Bonds Between Sekirei and Shinobi
by AnimeNerdYuki235
Summary: On the way back to Konoha our hyper active knuckle headed ninja life is flipped upside-down from an encounter with a rather well endowed girl. Now he's not just a jinchuriki or a shinobi but also a Ashikabi. How will Naruto handle his newest set of challenges in his life. A repost/continuation of ShadowStar91 "The Ashikabi of Konoha", adopted by me.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Hello everyone! My name's AnimeNerd Yuki and I have adopted **_**ShadowStar91**_**story, ****_"The_**_** Ashikabi of Konoha**_**_"_****. I was really enjoying it and I was quite saddened by the fact that it was going to be discontinued so I just couldn't allow this great story to stop. So I adopted this story.** **Anyways, I have three announcements to make before I continue with this story. .**

**First some of the pairings that ShadowStar91 will remain the same.**

**Second some of the characters from Naruto will stay alive for important reason.**

**Third** **Chapter 1-6 is all **_**ShadowStar91**_**original work with the exception of some editing here and there. Chapter seven and beyond is all me. ****_Shadow _****if you're reading this, just know this is a tribute to you! **

**Now on with the show!**

**Introducing Sekirei 88 -The Busty Fighter!**

"Alright Naruto, do it right this time." A man ordered. He had long and spiky white hair pulled into a ponytail while wearing a horned metal headband with the kanji for 'oil' on it. Down his face ran red tear tracks while he was wearing what many would consider a traditional kabuki outfit of an olive green gi with a red sleeveless overcoat. Strapped to his back was a large scroll while on his feet were wooden sandals. This man was one of the legendary Sannin of Konoha, Jiraiya.

"Alright, alright I got it Ero-Sensei." Replied a young teen, he had bright yellow spiky hair and wore and orange jacket with black over the shoulders and a red spiral on the back. He also had on pants of the same bright color and black open-toed shoes commonly referred to as Shinobi sandals. Also strapped to his right leg was a black pouch filled with various scrolls, kunai and shuriken while wrapped around his head was a headband of his own, only with a spiral leaf symbol on it instead of kanji.

Naruto held out his right hand and focused chakra to it as light blue wisps of energy began to swirl above his palm. A few seconds later it condensed into a small sphere, though it was far from perfect as the sphere was covered in bumps and spots where the energy would fly out. Trying to fix those problems the blonde concentrated before hitting his limit as the ball exploded in his hand. "OW! Damnit!"

"You still can't make a perfect Rasengan one handed after all this time training? Damn gaki, I figured with all the chakra control training I put you through over the past couple years would've fixed that problem." Jiraiya remarked as Naruto waved is smoking hand around. He stopped when the smoke cleared and looked at his burnt hand jus to see the wounds beginning to heal slowly, the only good thing to being the jinchuriki to the Nine Tail Fox in his mind.

"I don't know why, it's just like there's some kind of block or something."

"Well I guess you'll just have to keep relying on that clone trick of yours until you get it down. But while effective, that's not truly combat worthy as a highly skilled opponent can and will capitalize on that split second when you create he clone to kill you." Naruto sighed but nodded at Jiraiya's words. He was right after all since in their spars the Toad Sage had done just that and caught Naruto in what would've been a kill shot had they been fighting for real. "Now let's get moving. The next town is an hour away and we head back to Konoha in a month."

Naruto nodded his head "Right Ero-Sensei."

Jiraiya crossed his arms over his chest. "Also don't calling me Ero-Sensei while were there." Jiraiya shouted.

Naruto just waved him off. "You quit being a pervert and I will."

"Damnit gaki, how am I supposed to get any research done when you keep blurting that out in front of the ladies?!" The bickering between the two would continue well into the next town, just as it always had for the past two years.

Two years ago, Jiraiya took Naruto on officially as an apprentice and then brought him with him on a training trip as he left his home of The Hidden Leaf Village, commonly shortened to simply Konoha. Traveling all around the Elemental Nations, Jiraiya did his best to train the boy up into the great ninja he wanted to be. While Naruto was still somewhat childish and still wore orange despite it being a bad color for a Shinobi, Jiraiya would have to say he succeeded to an extent. Naruto still preferred to rush in and face the enemy head-on, but now he could make and follow plans under pressure. His accuracy with kunai and shuriken was better than ever and he even knew basic fuinjutsu, just enough to make explosive notes and sealing scrolls.

His taijutsu, while still in mostly a brawler style, was more fluid and stronger while his speed and strength were higher than before as well to go with. His ninjutsu repertoire hadn't really expanded much, still consisting of only the **Rasengan**, **Shadow Clone Jutsu**, **Transformation Jutsu**, and the **Body Replacement Jutsu**, however his usage and mastery of the Jutsu had risen to far higher levels. Naruto had even managed to make an upgraded version of the Rasengan called **Giant** **Rasengan**. Jiraiya had also managed to teach Naruto how to control the deadly chakra of the Nine tail Fox sealed within him to an extent. Whereas before Naruto was barely in control of one tails worth of power, no he could safely use three, however any higher and he lost himself to the biju within and would rampage on friend and foe alike. Jiraiya had tried altering the seal holding the beast to help Naruto but had only managed to make things worse and had been forced to subdue Naruto and re-strengthen the seal.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Okay Naruto, I'm gonna go find a couple contacts I have here so you can go do whatever you want. I'll meet you back at the hotel later." Jiraiya told the boy before heading out into the middle of the busy town. Naruto watched him leave for a second before shrugging and walking off himself. He knew that more than likely Jiraiya was really going to look for either a hot springs to peep on the women or a brothel to waste money on whores so he didn't comment on it. The man was a grown Shinobi; he could spend his time how he wanted. He just was never going to be rid of the Ero-Sensei nickname until he stopped. Besides, Naruto's training was almost over as they were on their way back to Konoha, currently stopping in one of the border towns of Hi no Kuni for a couple nights of rest.

"Alright, time to find me some food. Wonder if there's a ramen stand around here somewhere?" The blond mused out loud as he walked around. While Jiraiya had managed to make the boy eat more than just ramen, it was still his favorite food and he was going to eat it when he could. Just thinking about ramen though made his mind turn to the Ichiraku stand in Konoha and the village in general. _"I can't wait to get back to Konoha and see everyone again. I'll bet everyone's gotten way stronger!" _He thought with a smile as he kept walking. He thought of his friends for a little longer before hearing a cry from above and turning to see a girl coming falling out of the sky. Wait what?

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Get back here 88!" A woman shouted as she swung a scythe, sending out a small blade of wind towards the fleeing girl.

"Ah!" She cried out as she ducked just in time to avoid her head getting chopped off from the attack. With a quick pat of her head to see if she was missing anything she smiled before glancing back at her pursuer. "I can't fight you yet! I still have to find my Ashikabi!" She shouted before focusing on the roof in front of her she was running across. Seeing a large gap ahead and knowing it was one she couldn't jump she knew she'd have to drop down to the street level and simply hoped her pursuer wouldn't start attacking random people if she followed. With a quick wish for some luck she leapt into the air to land down below.

"Look out below!"

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Look out below!"

"Huh?" Naruto wondered, seeing someone falling before she crashed on top of him and sending him to the ground. Shaking his head to try and get his thoughts straight he found himself staring at a pair of white panties right over his face. He instantly blushed bright red before hearing the girl groan and get off him.

"Oww, guess that jump was too high." She muttered and Naruto got a good look at her. She had brown hair and bright expressive eyes while she had on a kimono top in the style seen normally on priestesses. She also had on a short red skirt that covered the white panties he had gotten a look at moments before and bright red gloves over her hands. However the thing about her that attracted the most attention was her rather large bust. _"I thought only Granny Tsunade had boobs that big?"_

Naruto idly thought before shaking from his head. The girl held her head for a second before seeming to finally notice Naruto. "Oh! Thank you for catching me and breaking my fall." Naruto brought his blush back under control before standing back up and offering her a hand to pull her up.

"No problem." He told her as she took his hand and stood. Naruto's danger instinct went off just then so he grabbed her and pulled her close as he jumped back, just in time as a blade of wind crashed into the ground where they had just been standing. Looking up Naruto saw a woman in a dress wielding a rather large and wicked looking scythe. "Who's that?" The blond asked as the girl he had just met seemed to look at him in shock for grabbing him and moving so quickly.

"88! Quit running and fight me damnit!" The girl on the roofs shouted out snapping her from her gazing at Naruto. She quickly turned to the one on the roof and shouted back.

"I told you I can't fight you until I find my Ashikabi!" That wasn't the response the scythe wielder wanted to hear though as she twirled the blade and sent another wind blade at her. Reacting quickly she grabbed Naruto's hand before taking off at high speed, dragging the surprised Shinobi behind her. He quickly got over his shock though and started running under his own power to follow the girl that had a surprisingly strong grip on his hand. _"What's going on here?" _It wasn't long before the girl on the roof lost track of her target and shouted her frustrations to the sky.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Stopping to catch their breath in a rather secluded part of town surrounded by trees, the girl finally took that time to notice she had been holding Naruto's hand the entire time and let go with a sheepish chuckle. "Sorry about that. I just reacted and brought you with me."

"It's okay." Naruto replied, waving off her concerns before he looked at her with a concerned look. "But who was that chick with the scythe and why did she want to fight you? She looked like she could've killed you."

"She's a Sekirei! I don't know her name or number though." The girl answered before her face seemed to light up and she smacked her head lightly while sticking out her tongue. "Oh, I'm sorry. I haven't introduced myself. I'm Sekirei 88, my name is Musubi." She said as she clasped her hands together, having the unintended side effect of pressing her rather large breasts together and making them more pronounced. "It's nice to meet you!" She chirped with a bow, flashing some of her cleavage at Naruto whether she knew it or not.

Said blonde's face had turned a very bright shade of red ever since she put her hands together and now with her flashing her cleavage he had to look off to the side and cough to try and get his voice back. "I'm *cough* I'm Naruto Uzumaki." He said, idly wondering what a Sekirei was and why they were apparently numbered. "I'm a genin of Konoha." He added.

"Genin what's that?" She asked as she tilted her head to the side in confusion.

Naruto was slightly surprised by what she said. "It's a ninja ranking." He answered.

"Ninja?" She asked before placing her left hand up to her chin as her right crossed over her chest to balance her arm in. Naruto inwardly admitted the girl was extremely hot and her 'thinking face' as it seemed was very cute. Suddenly her face lit up as she figured out what he meant, or felt she did. "Oh, you mean those super-humans the professor told Musubi about!"

Naruto was now confused by what she said. _"Super-humans is that what people thought of ninja as? And did she just talk about herself in the third person?"_ He thought to himself until he snapped out of his thoughts. "So you're really one of those really strong people?" She asked with a very large smile. Naruto chuckled for a second but then nodded.

"Yeah, I'm a Shinobi of Konoha and one day I'm even gonna be Hokage!"

"Hokage?" Musubi asked.

"The Hokage is the leader of my village and the one of the strongest ninja in the world." Naruto explained as the girl gained stars in her eyes.

"That's so cool!" She squealed, apparently delighted for him and his goal. Their conversation was derailed though as she suddenly started swaying on her feet and seemed to fall to the side. Naruto reacted quickly and managed to grab her before she fell and knelt next to her.

"Hey, are you okay? Did that other chick get you with something?" He asked rapid-fire before there was a large growling noise that made him look around thinking they were being attacked by some type of great beast. At least until Musubi grabbed the front of his jacket and muttered out a word.

"Hungry…" As if to reinforce her point the loud growl came back which Naruto now was able to recognize the noise to be her stomach.

Naruto then came up with a good idea. "Good thing I was looking for a place to eat then huh?"

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Thank you so much Naruto, not only did you catch Musubi and save her from an attack you even fed her so much!" Musubi cheered as she and Naruto left and all-you-can-eat buffet, that both of them were barred from for nearly putting them out of business by eating all the food.

"Not a problem Musubi" Naruto responded. "It's just too bad they kicked us out, I thought that cake looked pretty good." The girl nodded her head along happily as she agreed with him. "So what're you going to do now?" Naruto asked as they walked down the street.

Musubi was walking next to him. "I need to keep looking for my Ashikabi."

"What's that?" The blond asked as he crossed his arms behind his head. Musubi held her hand together and closed her eyes, almost as if she was praying.

"An Ashikabi is the one a Sekirei is destined to serve and guide to the skies above. They're the person we'll love and give everything for." Musubi explained before opening her eyes and looking towards Naruto with a smile. "I kind of wish you were my Ashikabi, Naruto. You're so kind and nice." The boy blushed and scratched his cheek idly as he looked to the side, not used to being complimented like that at all.

"I just try to be nice to everyone I meet." He muttered before shaking his head. "Well, whoever this Ashikabi person turns out to be, I hope you find 'em soon."

Musubi then pumped her arm in the air. "Right!"

"There you are 88!" Both looked up to see the girl with the scythe standing a few feet away glaring at Musubi. "Now you're going to pay for making me chase after you all his time!" She shouted before charging forward to cut Musubi open with her scythe. Both Naruto and the busty brunette leaped to the side before Musubi took off running again. The other girl quickly started giving chase as Naruto watched for a second before growling and running after them. Nobody messed with his friends when he was around!

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"You can't run forever!" The girl shouted as she sent another wind blade at Musubi. Number 88 ducked as she ran before ending up outside the town and surrounded by trees, effectively lost since her sense of direction wasn't very good. She ducked around a few trees to dodge more wind blades as they came before one carved up the ground right in front of her, making her trip and crash into another tree. "Ha! I got you now!" The girl shouted as she raised her scythe and Musubi looked up, fearful that she was going to be terminated before she could even find her Ashikabi. Before the girl could swing her scythe though she was punched hard in the jaw and sent flying into a tree by a blond in orange.

"Leave Musubi alone you bitch!" Naruto shouted.

"Naruto?" The blond looked over to the brunette and quickly rushed to her side and helped her back to her feet.

"You okay Musubi?" Naruto asked with a concerning voice.

"Yeah, but what are you doing here though?!" She asked, confusing him. "You could get hurt or something!" Naruto's eyes narrowed as he looked over to where the other girl was getting up from her impact. Musubi followed his gaze before glancing worriedly back to him.

"Maybe, but I don't care. I don't like it when people pick on my friends. As long as I have the power to help, I won't let anybody be hurt around me!" He declared, getting Musubi to stare at him in shock and awe. Naruto cracked his knuckles as he walked forward towards the girl that was glaring at him now and rubbing her jaw. "You got a name bitch?"

"You stupid human you dare strike me?! I am Sekirei 43, Yomi! I'll kill you for that!" The now identified Yomi shouted before charging him with her scythe and swinging at him. Naruto quickly reached into his pouch and pulled out a kunai that he flipped in his hand into reverse grip before parrying her attack. With a small grunt he pushed her blade back and kicked her in the chest, making her stumble back. Before she recovered he punched her across the face with his left and then used his right to uppercut her. Yomi was sent back from the combo and landed on the ground hard before using her scythe to help her stand.

Meanwhile off to the side Musubi watched in awe at how Naruto was fighting just because he considered her a friend. They had just met and he already thought she was a friend and was willing to fight for her. Add onto that, he was winning the fight so far against Yomi, who had yet to land a hit. _"He's so strong. Just watching him fight for me, I can't help but feel all warm inside."_ She thought before seeing how Yomi was raising her scythe for an attack. "Look out!" She cried as she ran forward and tackled Naruto out of the way of a wind blade. "Are you okay Naruto-sama?" The blond nodded as he kicked back to his feet and Musubi stood up herself.

"Why does she want to fight you so bad anyways?" He asked before they dodged another wind blade.

"Sekirei are supposed to fight after finding their Ashikabi. That's what the professor told me!" Musubi answered before tightening her gloves on her hands. "But she won't leave me alone so Sekirei 88, Musubi, will fight her here and now!" She declared before charging at Yomi. The girl looked from Naruto to the brunette as a grin broke out on her face for finally getting the fight she wanted. She twirled her scythe for a moment before meeting Musubi's charge head on.

"Finally you're mine 88!" She shouted before swinging her scythe at Musubi. The busty brunette began dodging swing after swing as Yomi attacked before finally growling lightly.

"That's dangerous!" She cried before grabbing the blade between her hands, carefully to avoid getting cut. Both Yomi and Naruto were shocked at the show of strength before Yomi tried to pull her scythe free and failed to even make it budge from the other girls' hands. "I should get rid of it." With one hard twist Musubi actually broke the blade right off the shaft of the weapon and tossed it aside where it got lodged in a tree. Again Naruto and Yomi were gaping at the girls surprising strength as she didn't look like she was that physically strong but before Yomi could get over her shock though Musubi punched the girl hard in the gut, sending her flying back to slam into a tree. Naruto walked over to Musubi and whistled.

"Damn Musubi you're really strong aren't you?" He somewhat jokingly asked. He idly wondered if it had something to do with her breasts as the only other woman he knew to be a physical powerhouse was Tsunade. Perhaps it was a trait among large chested girls?

"That's because Musubi is a fist-type Sekirei!" She explained as she pumped her fist into the air happily. The more time she spent around Naruto the warmer that feeling in her got and she couldn't really explain why. Not that she minded though since she really liked the feeling. She would've said more before she was hit dead on by a wind blade that both were too preoccupied to notice. Thankfully without the blade on the scythe the attack had been dulled enough that it didn't cut right through her, instead just shredding her top open, revealing her bare chest for all to see. Naruto blushed for a moment at seeing her bare breasts before focusing on Yomi instead to find her grinning perversely at Musubi's topless form, a blush on her face.

"Oh, I'm sorry! Did you lose your top? Well then maybe you should lose the rest too!" She shouted before she began spinning the shaft of her bladeless scythe around her in a complex pattern, sending out multiple wind blades at the girl. Musubi had by now recovered from the hit and started dodging to her right while Naruto simultaneously ran to the left. Yomi kept sending attacks at Musubi only keeping her focus on the girl, which was something Naruto noticed. With a slight grin the blond maneuvered himself around the back of Yomi before charging in and kicking her hard in the back of her head, sending her sprawling to the ground. Before she could get up Musubi ran forward and grabbed her scythe shaft and threw it away, making Yomi terrified.

"There! Now you can't fight." The defeated Sekirei stared in terror as Naruto walked up behind her and quickly pinched a nerve in her shoulder to knock her out, a trick all Shinobi are taught in the Academy. "What'd you do?"

"I just knocked her unconscious." Naruto assured making sure to keep his eyes above Musubi's chest, which the girl had yet to try and cover up. "Um… aren't you going to cover up?" He asked and Musubi looked down before shrugging.

"I don't have another top to wear though. Besides, Musubi doesn't mind." And she referred to herself in the third person again…. Wait did she just say she didn't mind going around topless? Naruto gaped at her before unzipping his jacket revealing a short sleeved black shirt on underneath and a necklace with a green gem. Taking off the jacket, he hand it to Musubi even as he was still blushing at the thought of the girl walking around topless.

"Here, you can use my jacket for now. I wouldn't be right for you to wander around without a top." Musubi took the jacket and put it on but could only zip it up halfway due to her assets getting in the way, leaving it partially open and revealing a lot of cleavage. Naruto blushed again while thinking she looked extremely hot in his jacket before turning away. Meanwhile Musubi felt as if she was burning up, and the jacket had very little to do with it. _"He's so kind and strong. Naruto is just perfect!" _She thought as she took a step forward, the heat she was feeling only getting hotter as she got closer to the blond. It seemed to be centered on her chest mostly with a bit pooling between her legs. She didn't understand why but something was telling her Naruto could help.

"Naruto…" She muttered getting his attention as he turned to face her. She reached out and wrapped him in a hug while resting her head on his shoulder, as he was only slightly taller than her. "Thank you for helping me."

"I-it's nothing Musubi." Naruto stuttered out. He was currently doing his best to keep his mind functioning as he had never been in this position before, being hugged by an extremely hot girl. He noticed that Musubi seemed to be swaying on her feet again and was wondering what was wrong when she pushed him to the ground. He only let out a small gasp of pain and closed his eyes but when he opened them he was staring into the half lidded ones of Musubi as she was straddling him. He also noticed she was blushing and seemed to be burning up somewhat. "Hey Musubi, are you okay?"

"I'm fine. I… I just…" She muttered as she drew her face closer to Naruto's own. The blond was still blushing as she did and wondering just what she was going to do before she closed the gap and kissed the boy straight on. Naruto's mind blanked at the feeling of the girls' lips on his own. This was nothing like his accidental kiss with Sasuke back at the Academy's graduation day. That had been the most horrible moment in his life and that made him want to puke right afterwards. But this felt right, made him want more. He idly felt something going on with his chakra but couldn't tell what as he started to push his lips back against the girls'. Something told him that whatever was happening to his chakra was a good thing so he felt it was okay to enjoy the feeling of kissing a girl for the first time.

From Musubi's back sprouted ten wings made of a light blue energy that spread out as if being used for the first time. The wings were coming from a symbol that had appeared on Musubi's back of a bird over a yin-yang mark with for tomoe beneath it. They light up the clearing they were in even as Naruto and Musubi kissed before fading away and leaving the clearing just how it was. Naruto finally pulled back from Musubi and lifted a hand up to the girls' face which she nuzzled into lovingly. With a bit of clarity he noticed he could actually feel Musubi now in the back of his mind, her presence just radiating happiness and love that he couldn't help but be happy about. "What… what just happened?" He asked, still confused and slightly in shock. The girl just smiled at him as she raised her own hand to press his into her face.

"You just became my Ashikabi." She answered.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

The new Sekirei-Ashikabi pair was sitting in the hotel room Naruto had rented with Jiraiya as they waited. Musubi was still wearing Naruto's jacket and sitting next to the boy who was cross-legged on his bed. For what they were waiting for, Musubi didn't know but Naruto did and was slightly dreading it. How was he going to break Musubi to Jiraiya? Sure she was a beautiful woman who would likely give him a bit of a pass but he couldn't brush away the entire problem of bringing Musubi with him back to Konoha. Musubi had told him a little bit about what it meant to be an Ashikabi but she didn't know much and some of it honestly went right over his head. All he really understood was that they were bonded now since Naruto had 'winged' her with that kiss and now it was her duty as his Sekirei to help and support Naruto in everything just as it was his as her Ashikabi to help her defeat other Sekirei they came across. Meaning she had to travel with him, and Naruto was worried about what Jiraiya would say about that.

"Are you alright Naruto?" The girl asked, breaking him from his thoughts. He looked at her in confusion, wondering what he did to alert her to his worry about Jiraiya so she explained. "With the bond between us, I can feel some of what Naruto feels and you feel worried." Naruto blinked before actually focusing on that small feeling in his head he had gotten ever since kissing her and was quickly overwhelmed by her feelings of concern for the blond and her desire to help him with what was worrying him. He shook his head and brought himself back to reality with the girl next to him.

"I'm alright Musubi. I'm just a little worried about what my Sensei is going to say when I tell him you're coming with us." Musubi nodded with her head tilted to the side cutely as she asked another question.

"What's your sensei like?" She asked and Naruto was about to answer when there was a knock at the door. Instantly Naruto was on guard as he knew if it was Jiraiya the man would've simply walked in. Plus the last time he was in a situation like this it was Akatsuki members at his door. Musubi could feel his caution and apprehension before looking to see the blond pull out a kunai. Naruto motioned for Musubi to stay quiet before gripping his kunai and stalking to the door. With deliberate slowness Naruto looked out the peek hole on the door and saw a man dressed in a simple black suit waiting patiently with a small package in his hand. Cautiously, Naruto opened the door.

"Hello?"

"Are you Naruto Uzumaki?" The man asked. Naruto nodded, slightly more on guard before the man handed him the package and walked away. Blinking in confusion Naruto looked down at the package before closing the door and sitting back down next to Musubi on the bed. Musubi looked at the package in just as much confusion as Naruto before he shrugged and opened it. Inside was a small black rectangular device that looked to be made of metal and plastic. Naruto picked it up and stared at it in curiosity before suddenly the front of it flashed white and then had a man on it.

"Congratulations Naruto Uzumaki! You're now an Ashikabi to a Sekirei!" The man cheered out as Naruto was shocked and nearly dropped the device. The man chuckled as Naruto got control over his heartbeat and then stared into the device to take a look at the man. He had shaggy white hair and wore a pure white suit with a high-collared white cape over it. His eyes were hidden due to the light reflecting off his glasses.

"Who're you? And what is this thing?" Naruto questioned

"I'm Hiroto Minaka, head of M.B.I. and game master of the Sekirei Plan that you are now a part of. And the device you're holding is a cell phone, an invention of my company that allows you talk and message other cell phone owners all over the world. Currently though, only Ashikabi and my employees have them as I have yet to release them to the public. You may keep that as an extra gift for winging a Sekirei." The man explained. Naruto nodded as it made sense while Musubi looked over his shoulder to see who he was talking with and lit up at the sight.

"Oh hi professor!" Musubi cheerfully said.

"Hello 88, you're doing well?" The girl nodded enthusiastically so he chuckled before turning his attention back to Naruto. "Now you, young man, are a part of the fabulous Sekirei Plan."

"What's that?" Naruto asked with curiosity.

"Why it's a game devised and run by M.B.I. of course! We've released 108 Sekirei into the world so that they may find their Ashikabi's. Then once they do, they fight and fight and fight until there's only one left and that Sekirei and Ashikabi win a glorious prize!" Minaka explained to him.

"What prize?" Naruto asked, actually torn between interested and appalled by the sound of the Plan. On one hand, it was always fun to test yourself against others and win prizes. But on the other, he was forcing 108 people just to find someone and then forcing them to fight. From what little he had gotten from Musubi, they consider Ashikabi's extremely important and love them (which were a concept he still hadn't completely grasped yet since how could you love someone you just met?) and then right after they found their special person they had to fight and get hurt. That wasn't very appealing to him.

"Why, the winning Sekirei and Ashikabi get to ascend to the skies above and usher forth a new era of the gods! What else could be greater?" Skies above, era of the gods? Did that actually mean anything or was Naruto the only one confused here? "So you take care and enjoy yourself with 88 alright? And keep a hold of the phone because M.B.I. will send updates and messages to you occasionally about the Sekirei Plan."

Naruto nodded. "Just one question before I go; with that headband, would you happen to be a Shinobi?" Minaka asked as Naruto nodded so the man's' grin grew even wider. "Excellent, that keeps that Ashikabi ratio at one-hundred percent Shinobi so far! Good bye!" The man finished before the screen went blank and Naruto waited a second to see if it would come back on. When it didn't he shrugged and set it to the side before looking to Musubi. The girl was staring at him with a surprisingly serious expression.

"Is there something wrong Musubi?" She shook her head before grabbing Naruto's hand and wrapping it in both of hers while holding it close to her chest. Naruto blushed at where she had brought his hand but didn't say anything.

"Now that Naruto is Musubi's Ashikabi, Musubi will be doing everything in her power to help you and keep you safe. Because Musubi lovers her Naruto" Again Naruto blushed as a girl had never said that they loved him before. While he admitted he really liked Musubi and thought of her as a close friend, despite the fact they only met just earlier that day, he wasn't sure if he loved her and couldn't bring himself to say it either.

His heart was still mostly set on his old teammate Sakura. "Can you feel it?" Musubi asked, breaking Naruto's train of thought. "Can you feel how Musubi's heart speeds up?" She asked as she actually placed his hand on her chest right between her breasts, the blonds face literally on fire now. "Just being close to my Ashikabi makes Musubi's heart beat so fast and her chest feel so warm. That's Musubi's love for you, for her Ashikabi-sama. That's why Musubi will fight for you." Naruto couldn't help himself from smiling as he pulled his hand back before wrapping and arm around Musubi's shoulder and pulling her close.

"Well you won't be alone. I'm gonna be fighting right alongside you." He admitted getting her to shake her head.

"You don't have to do that. Musubi can fight for both of us." Naruto stopped her by placing a finger to her lips and smiling.

"So? I don't care if I don't have to fight, I'll fight with you anyways. You're a precious person Musubi, and I always fight to protect my precious people." Naruto told her with such conviction Musubi knew she wouldn't change his mind and she smiled.

"I really do have the best Ashikabi." She muttered even as she rested her head on his shoulder, the exhaustion from the entire day starting to catch up to her. Naruto chuckled before slowly lying back down on the bed, pulling Musubi with him. She let out a cute yawn as they laid flat on the mattress before nuzzling herself into Naruto's side and wrapping her arms around him. Naruto let out a yawn of his own as he was pretty tired before closing his eyes and letting sleep take him. Musubi wasn't long after as she fell asleep herself.

It would be two hours later that Jiraiya would walk into the room and be instantly confused by the presence of a girl in bed with Naruto. Wearing his jacket no less, however the confusion would only last a second before perversion would set in and he'd start scribbling away ideas for a new book. _'I knew this gaki would be a gold mine for research eventually! I just knew it!'_

**Authors Note: Well I guess that's it and I hope you guys are happy that ShadowStar91 story will continue. I'll update the other five original chapters by today but I just need to edit them. **

**. Till next time!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Okay guys here the second chapter **

**Dreams of 108 - The Green Girl**

"So she's a Sekirei, you're now her Ashikabi, and she's coming back to Konoha with us, no questions asked?" Jiraiya summarized as Naruto and Musubi both nodded their heads. The morning had been rather hectic when Naruto woke up to find that Musubi had at some point in the night unzipped his jacket before snuggling back into him meaning his right arm was firmly between her breasts as her legs were even tangled with his. Not only that, but her head was resting on his shoulder right next to his face. It had taken the entire boy's willpower not scream in surprise as well as not pass out from a nosebleed as Musubi's bare chest both looked and felt great and then had come the giggling to his left which made Naruto whip his head around to see Jiraiya writing furiously in a notepad and muttering things about gold and gaki.

Naruto had scowled and whispered for him to shut up, but that just got the man to giggle more with a slight blush as he could see some of Musubi's rather large chest as it was pressed into Naruto. After gently waking Musubi up and then getting Musubi to zip up the jacket, much to Jiraiya's disappointment, Naruto had gotten around to making a simple breakfast. Then Jiraiya had complimented Naruto on catching such a beauty and asked for the story, his face going from perverted and jolly to serious and business-like over the course of it.

Naruto was honestly worried about Jiraiya's response as the man stared at him to Musubi and back to him in a blank face while Musubi had a smile on as she didn't really notice the tension. Jiraiya let Naruto sweat a bit more before breaking back out into his perverted grin and laughing. "Fine with me but now, tell me Naruto, how was the kiss? Huh? And how do those heavenly pillows feel huh?" Naruto gaped at the man's' complete one-eighty while Musubi laughed.

"You're funny mister Ero-Sensei!" Jiraiya's eye twitched as the girl used Naruto's nickname for her while the boy suppress a laugh. Giving the girl a calm smile he tried to introduce himself.

"Thank you dear, but my name isn't Ero-Sensei. That's Naruto's nickname for me. My real name is known far and wide-" He started even going into poses before Naruto cut him off.

"His real name is Jiraiya but since he's just a perverted sage I call him Ero-Sensei. You don't have to worry about him Musubi-chan." The girl just nodded with a serious expression as if she had just learned a great secret as Jiraiya face-faulted.

"Okay Naruto!" Musubi cheerfully said.

"Naruto!" Jiraiya shouted as he stood back up. "How many times do I have to tell you not to interrupt me when I'm doing my introduction?!" Naruto just waved him off as Musubi giggled so Jiraiya sighed and dropped it before turning the conversation back to the real matter at hand. "You know, while I may be fine with her, but we both know that Tsunade is going to skin you alive when she finds out about this." Naruto paled and Musubi could tell over their bond that he was filled with terror at the thought of this 'Tsunade' person.

"Oh no Granny is gonna kill me!" Jiraiya started laughing as Naruto freaked out and Musubi tried to calm her Ashikabi down. Honestly he knew Tsunade wouldn't really kill him. Yell at him and hurt him maybe, but she wouldn't kill him. Rather, she would kill Jiraiya himself for letting her little brother/son figure get caught in the mess in the first place. But Jiraiya also knew that once they explained the situation the Hokage would accept it without much issue. Well, maybe after a drink or two.

"Calm down you idiot, she won't kill you besides, she's a medic. It's not like she can't bring you back if she does."

"You're not helping Ero-Sensei!" Jiraiya chuckled as Musubi latched onto Naruto and started cheering about how she wouldn't let this 'Tsunade' person hurt her Ashikabi, Naruto being pressed firmly into her chest as she did. If he was perfectly honest with himself Jiraiya truly didn't have any problem with letting the girl travel with them. She was kind, found him somewhat funny, was obviously head over heels with his apprentice and was exceedingly beautiful. Her chest especially was… Shaking his head to get back on track Jiraiya also thought about why they couldn't leave the girl alone.

One was because she and Naruto were now bonded as a Sekirei and Ashikabi, something Naruto didn't really understand and Musubi wasn't doing a good job explaining beyond helping her Ashikabi ascend to the skies above. Whatever that meant, but it was obvious they were connected on more than a physical level and that connection was not about to be broken. Not only that but the girl was naïve. She wasn't stupid by any means as she picked things up rather quickly and was surprisingly insightful from their brief conversation but rather she was just naïve in that she didn't know the ways of the world very well. In fact the Sannin was positive she actually had no idea what sex was and if she did it was only the barest of terms as she had completely missed all the teasing he had given the two over the morning and instead thought they were just regular jokes.

Not only that but she didn't seem to care about being naked around the opposite gender or in public. Not because she was as perverted and depraved as the Sannin himself but because she simply didn't know it was considered taboo. A girl that naïve and innocent couldn't be left alone, especially around here, the crooks here would capitalize on that innocence and take advantage of her likely to the point she'd never recover. While Jiraiya was a self-proclaimed super pervert and author of the best-selling Icha Icha series, he did hold women in high regard and would never let anything happen to them.

"Hey Naruto, you know you're gonna have to train much harder now right? Akatsuki isn't going to just go easy on you since you've got a girl with you." Jiraiya pointed out getting Naruto to freeze in Musubi's arms and get a serious expression.

"Yeah, I know. And I can't let them try anything against Musubi either. I've gotta get way stronger." Jiraiya smiled at Naruto's determination while Musubi looked from Naruto to Jiraiya before smiling. She may not understand everything that they were talking about but it didn't matter much to her. So long as she could be with her Ashikabi then everything was alright. She was simple like that.

The three of them were drawn to the door when there was suddenly knocking. Glancing at Naruto and Musubi the two shrugged their shoulders to show they didn't know so Jiraiya sighed but walked to the door himself. "Can I help you?" He asked as he opened the door, only to have a package pushed into his hands by a man who then walked away. "Hey! What's this for?" Jiraiya called out to the man but was ignored so he walked back inside looked it over. Thinking it over Jiraiya just decided to go for it and ripped open the package only to pull out a white kimono top in the style priestesses wear.

"Oh! They brought me my clothes!" Musubi quickly got up and took the clothes from Jiraiya before taking off Naruto's jacket and revealing her bare chested form to both men. Naruto instantly blushed and looked away while Jiraiya had a nose bleed and was going gaga over how large her chest was.

Of course Musubi didn't paid attention to either of them any mind as she pulled the top on and covered up before checking over herself in the bathroom mirror to make sure she was set. However when she came back she saw Naruto struggling to look at her without blushing and Jiraiya laughing perversely while writing quickly in his notebook. "Is something wrong?" Jiraiya paused for a moment before shrugging and going back to his writing while Naruto coughed into his hand.

"Uh, Musubi, you know we were in the room when you took my jacket off right?" The girl blinked but then nodded so Naruto continued. "It didn't bother you to be showing off your chest in front of us?" He asked and the naïve Sekirei tilted her head to the side.

"No… should it have?" Naruto coughed again as he tried to explain while Jiraiya had stopped writing and was instead listening in to the conversation now to see how Naruto handled it. He wasn't going to let her be taken advantage of for sure, but when they were all alone he wasn't going to stop her from getting naked either. As far as he was concerned Musubi was currently on the 'look but don't touch' list.

"Well, uh… girls don't normally do that around guys." Naruto told her. "They only really get naked around guys when they're really close and stuff and we just met yesterday." Musubi looked even more confused now.

"But you're my Ashikabi so I already am close to you Naruto." Then her face lit up seemingly in realization as she slammed a fist into the palm of her other hand. "Oh, but Musubi's not that close to mister Ero-Sensei so she shouldn't do that around him! Is that what you mean?" She asked as Jiraiya gawked in shock before paling as he realized he was about to get cut off from his free boob viewing.

"Close enough." Naruto relented as he realized he likely wasn't going to get any better than that. Plus, while he may not go around peeping or looking at porn he did appreciate the female form. He was a hot blooded straight male after all. Musubi nodded happily at getting what Naruto meant before remembering something and pulling out a card.

"Oh yeah, this was in my clothes!" Both Naruto and Jiraiya leaned in to see it was a large card with M.B.I. printed on it and some info on the back.

"What is it?" The blond male asked as Jiraiya picked it out of the girls' hand and started looking it over.

"It's an M.B.I. card! Now when we go shopping we can just show this and they'll send the bill to the professor's company!" Musubi explained as Jiraiya raised an eyebrow.

"Is there a price limit or anywhere it can't be used?" He asked while mentally making a note to get his contacts to dig up everything they could on Sekirei, Ashikabi and M.B.I. in general.

"Musubi doesn't think so…" She answered as she placed a hand to her chin in a cute manner. Honestly, everything the girl did was extremely cute or sexy and she didn't even notice. It was almost like she was taunting them but they doubted she even realized what she was doing. "Musubi forgot to grab it when she left the lab."

"Lab?" Both men chorused, their faces even dropping into matching frowns. Musubi though didn't notice and explained a little.

"Uh huh, it was where Musubi grew up! They taught me how to hold back my strength so I don't hurt anyone and lots of other stuff too. All the Sekirei are born there until they're ready to be let out!" Naruto calmed down after the talk mistaking it for a simple boarding school type of place but Jiraiya kept scowling. He didn't miss the 'born there' comment she had slipped. He really needed to get some info on M.B.I. now. They were starting to sound like something Orochimaru would be into.

"Naruto, grab your stuff you're gonna do a little shopping for Musubi here before we get started on heading back to Konoha. While you two do that I need to see my contacts one more time before we go. I'll meet you at the eastern exit in two hours, alright?" Jiraiya handed the card to the blond as he slipped his jacket on and grabbed a pack filled with his things that was sitting in a corner before nodding.

"Alright, we'll see ya later Ero-Sensei." Naruto could tell from Jiraiya's voice he was serious about the contacts this time so he knew to simply follow orders and go with it. He had a slight idea as to what Jiraiya was going to get info about too since they had just dumped all of his confusing info on him. "Come on Musubi, let's get you some stuff." He said as he took the girls hand with a smile and led her out of the room. Jiraiya sighed before running a hand over his face.

"Honestly brat, how do you get dragged into all of this shit?" He muttered before leaving the room himself he had work to do.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"So you don't have anything but the clothes you're wearing right now Musubi?" Naruto asked as Musubi was looking through a shelf filled with various woman's' clothes.

"Nope Musubi was only released a few days ago and then I was chased by that mean girl from yesterday until I met you Naruto." She admitted before holding up a white shirt to her chest to get an idea of how it would look on her. Naruto nodded his head as she then grabbed a few in her size and moved on to another section with other clothes for her to buy. "How much should Musubi get?" She suddenly asked before facing Naruto who was adjusting the straps to his pack. He paused for a moment before shrugging.

"Enough to last a week I guess. Once we get to Konoha and have an actual place to live instead of just hotel rooms or camping out then you can get more. And don't worry about a pack or anything; I'll take care of that." He added before going back to adjusting the straps on his pack so they were a little tighter. Musubi wondered how he would but just nodded and decided to trust him on it. After all he was her Ashikabi; he had to have a plan for that.

Ten minutes later and Musubi was handing the M.B.I. card over to the cashier to purchase a few shirts, skirts and pairs of panties that she had picked out for her while Naruto stood off to the side patiently. The clothes were all put into bags as they were paid for before getting the card back and heading outside. "Okay Musubi, just hold the bags for a second so I can seal 'em away." Naruto told her while pulling a blank scroll from his pouch as well as a brush and some ink.

Opening the scroll and crouching down to lay it on the ground, Naruto dipped the brush in the ink before writing out a seal formula though Musubi would've called it a bunch of pretty lines since she didn't understand what they were for. Once he finished he gave a grin and waited a minute for the ink to dry before motioning to the Sekirei next to him. "Alright, now lay your bags on the scroll." Confused, Musubi did as he said before he made a couple hand signs and placed his palm on the edge of the seal. "**Seal**!" He called out as the items vanished in a puff of smoke. Instead the 'pretty lines' as Musubi called them were now all circling the kanji for clothes and Naruto was grinning up to her from his kneeling spot on the ground. "Alright there we go! Now I can just put the scroll in my pack and we don't have to carry all those bags around." Naruto didn't get to say more as Musubi was suddenly hugging him tightly while squealing in delight.

"That's so cool Naruto! You made all of Musubi's clothes disappear! Is that one of those ninja powers?! What else can you do?!" She asked rapid fire while squeezing Naruto to her chest. The boy was waving his arms around frantically as he was accidentally being suffocated by the girl with super strength.

"M-Musubi! Air!" He managed to gasp out before she noticed his struggling and let him go. The blond fell to his back as he breathed deeply; filling his lungs with the substance Musubi had squeezed out.

"Sorry! Musubi didn't mean to hurt you!" The girl cried out, worried she may have hurt him somehow. Naruto coughed a couple times while waving a hand to let her know it was okay.

"You… you just caught me off guard is all. It's okay Musubi." He told her so she let out a sigh of relief as he picked up the scroll and rolled it back up. He quickly scribbled Musubi's name on it before blowing on the ink to dry it faster and then put the scroll and writing supplies back into his pack. "Now let's go get some lunch before meeting up with Ero-Sennin okay?" He offered as he stood back up, the girl happily nodding and taking his hand as they headed for the nearest restaurant.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

A couple hours later and the three were happily walking down the path from the town towards Konoha. Jiraiya was in front and had told them that it would only take them three or four days to reach the Shinobi village pending nothing interrupted them. Behind him were Naruto and Musubi, the former telling the latter all about his home, his friends, and some of his childish adventures a.k.a. pranks. Musubi meanwhile would laugh when Naruto told her about something she found funny while also making comments on how she'd like to meet his friends or see the places he kept describing with the blond promising that she would. After a while though something was bugging Jiraiya about Sekirei so he decided to ask about it. "Hey Musubi?"

"Yes mister Ero-Sensei?" She responded getting his eye to twitch again, not that she could see, while Naruto snickered into his hand. Great, she just had to pick up the kids name for him didn't she?

"You said something about fighting other Sekirei so does that mean you can fight too?" He asked the girl getting her to smile and pump her fist up.

"Yep! Musubi is a fist-type Sekirei!" She responded.

"Fist-type?" Naruto asked, voicing the same question Jiraiya was about to. Musubi meanwhile looked happy to be explaining about a Sekirei's powers.

"A fist-type like me is really strong and fast. We're physically the best of all Sekirei! Then come the weapon-types like that Sekirei yesterday. They're not as strong as fist-types but they all have a weapon of some sort and can do lots of really cool stuff with them! Then there's the simple-type. The professor told me that they all control an element of some kind and are only physically better than regular humans." She explained as Jiraiya nodded his understanding while Naruto looked confused for a moment.

"Wait, control an element? Like what?" Naruto asked.

"I don't know. But Musubi heard the professor say some could shoot lightning or make it rain and stuff!" She tried to explain the best that she could.

"Like an elemental ninjutsu you moron." Jiraiya added getting Naruto to nod but Musubi to look confused.

"What's that?" She asked so Jiraiya stopped for a moment before looking around. He then grinned and gestured to the field at the side of the road.

"Well since there's nobody around to accidentally hurt I don't see why we can't show you. Naruto, make a couple clones for targets." The blond shrugged before making a cross with his fingers.

**"****Shadow Clone Jutsu****!"** He called out as three clones appeared in puffs of smoke and ran out to the field while Musubi stared at them with stars in her eyes.

"That's so cool! There's even more Naruto!" The blond scratched the back of his head sheepishly at the praise for what he considered a simple matter while Jiraiya just chuckled.

"If you liked that then watch this Musubi." He quickly made some hand-signs before raising a hand to his mouth. **"Fire Style: Flame Bullet!"** He called out as he breathed out a large fireball that flew straight into one clone causing an explosion that destroyed it.

As Musubi cheered at the fireworks and Naruto grimaced at watching him essentially be blown up, Jiraiya ran through a few more hand-signs before stomping on the ground. **"****Earth Style: Swamp of the Underworld****!"** Underneath the two remaining clones the ground suddenly changed into a dark muddy liquid as the clones were caught off guard and started sinking. They struggled to stay afloat with the water-walking exercise but failed to do so as the swamp had a special consistency that only Jiraiya knew how to walk on.

After a few seconds the clones were submerged entirely and two small bubbles of smoke rose to the surface signifying their demise so Jiraiya cut the chakra to the technique restoring the field to its original condition. "Those Musubi, were just two examples of elemental ninjutsu. I'm guessing you meant something like that with your talk about simple-type Sekirei?" The girl had been staring at the show the entire time with stars in her eyes as she was amazed humans could pull off such acts, even though the professor had told her that ninja were 'super-humans' capable of them. Hearing Jiraiya talk though made her remember what she had said so she nodded enthusiastically.

"Yeah but the professor said a simple-type can only have one element, just like weapon-types only get one weapon! There's a couple more Sekirei types but Musubi can't remember them, just that they're really rare while fist-types and weapon-types are the most common." Jiraiya nodded before another idea came to him and he grinned.

"Okay. Naruto take off your pack." Jiraiya said.

"Huh? Why?" Naruto asked, even as he did what he was told anyways.

"I'd like you to have a spar with Musubi here." Jiraiya said as he pointed towards Musubi.

"Huh?" Both of the younger people chorused so Jiraiya just pointed out to the field.

"You heard me. I'd like to see what Musubi can do first hand plus see how you stack up to someone besides me. Besides, since you two have to fight other Sekirei, it would be best to learn and understand each other's limits now when there's no danger rather than hit them at the worst possible time." He explained so Naruto nodded and walked onto the field while Musubi followed and started bouncing in place a few feet away. "Just don't use any weapons or the **Rasengan**." Jiraiya said to them but specify to Naruto.

Naruto nodded his head and was now across from Musubi. "Got it! Ready Musubi?" He asked as she nodded enthusiastically.

"I'm really happy I get to fight you Naruto! Musubi won't hold back!" She cheered before charging forward with a straight punch. Naruto moved to the side to avoid the punch before throwing one out himself at the girl's midsection that connected and made her stumble back. Seeing the opening Naruto jumped up slightly to bring his left leg down in an axe kick that Musubi rolled to the right to dodge before she sprang back to her feet and threw another punch at Naruto, this time catching him in the shoulder.

Naruto was sent back as he spun slightly with the blow before coming to a stop and wincing while rubbing his now sore shoulder. He then looked back to see Musubi charging him again so he grinned and ran to meet her charge with his own.

"_She doesn't seem to have much of a style to fighting really. She just charges in and punches at him." _Jiraiya thought as he watched the Sekirei and his apprentice punch, kick and dodge each other. _"In fact I'd say her fighting style is like Naruto's when I found him in that she just rush the enemy with whatever she can. Despite that she's pretty fast and strong with some decent reflexes. If she were just taught an actual fighting style though she could be a taijutsu powerhouse on par with Gai."_

He thought as he watched Naruto jump to the side to avoid a downward punch of Musubi's that ended up splitting the ground where she hit, making the man's eyes widen. _'And with Tsunade-level strength to boot! We have got to get this girl a real taijutsu teacher back in Konoha. She has tons of potential.'_

Meanwhile Naruto was sweating at how she had affected he landscape with a single hit. _"Seriously, she's as strong as Granny Tsunade! How the hell is she that strong? She doesn't look anywhere near that strong!" _He thought before seeing her breasts bouncing slightly with her movements. _"Is it really the boobs or what?" _Again he thought drawing connections between the two physical powerhouse women he knew. He pushed the somewhat perverted thoughts from his mind before making a cross with his hands and creating a clone. Musubi looked shocked for a second before remembering he could do that and getting serious again, though she was still grinning showing she was enjoying the fight. After a second both Naruto and his clone grinned as well, he was having fun too.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Alright you two, let's set up camp and get dinner ready." Jiraiya said as night fell and they pulled off to the side of the road. It was hours since the two had sparred and both were slightly scuffed but neither was hurt. After Naruto had brought out his clones he had quickly managed to subdue Musubi, though she hadn't gone down without a fight.

After his victory Musubi had praised him for being so strong which Naruto brushed off before telling her that she was a really strong fighter. Jiraiya had offered his input, mostly that Naruto needed to work on his speed more, before telling them that he was going to try and get Musubi a teacher back in Konoha since all she really needed was an actual fighting style and she would be set. She had he strength and speed, she just wasn't using them to their full potential. Naruto agreed since the man knew more than he did and Musubi thanked him for helping her while he just laughed it off with a comment about her being like Tsunade when they were younger.

"Oh yeah, Musubi I've been meaning to ask about this for a while but kept forgetting to." Naruto started as he pulled his pack off and grabbed the scroll that held his tent supplies. The girl faced him with a smile so he continued. "When we kissed and I 'winged' you, I felt something going on with my chakra. Do you know what that was?"

"What?!" Jiraiya shouted as he overheard and spun around to face Naruto. The younger pair faced him, shocked at his reaction before he rounded on Naruto. "You never said anything about something going on with your chakra!"

"I forgot, really!" Naruto defended. "Plus it didn't seem like anything bad and nothing's changed since other than that I can feel Musubi in the back of my head! He explained so Jiraiya calmed down slightly while Musubi took the chance to explain.

"Um… the professor said when a Sekirei is winged their energy bonds with and connects to their Ashikabi's so that we can use it for our Norito." Both glanced at her asking for an explanation but she didn't get it so they actually had to ask for her to explain what that was. "Oh! A Norito is a power Sekirei can use after being winged. We just kiss out Ashikabi and recite ours and we get stronger for a little while."

"So you can take some of the brat's chakra to give yourself a power boost just by kissing him and saying something?" Jiraiya asked for clarification, getting the girl to nod. He sighed but then turned back to Naruto. "Okay, I guess its fine for now. We can have Tsunade or someone from the Hyuuga clan to check it out closer back in Konoha. I was just worried because of _that_." Jiraiya admitted, placing an emphasis on 'that' that Naruto instantly knew what he was referring to and nodded.

He hadn't thought about it but when Jiraiya brought it up it made him realize how dangerous messing with his chakra might've been. What if he had been using Kyuubi's power? And what would happen now that the bond was formed if he started using it? As a matter of fact, could Kyuubi even do anything through their bond? The fox did have a very close tie on his chakra due to the seal but this was something different.

"What's that?" Musubi asked, wondering what they were talking about. The two glanced at her before Jiraiya shrugged.

"This is your call Naruto. Since she's going to be with you and all I'm gonna let you decide if you want to tell her or not. It's your secret to give out." Naruto silently thanked the man for that as he then turned and went back to setting up his tent, only keeping an ear open to hear in case something worrying came up. Musubi glanced at Jiraiya in confusion before turning to Naruto.

"Naruto?" She could feel some slight apprehension from him over their bond about this so she walked closer and grabbed his hand as he just gave her a small smile and rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb.

"I… I don't think I'm ready to tell you about his Musubi. It's something that's been with me my entire life and it'll probably change everything you see about me. Please, just give me a bit of time okay? I promise I'll tell you soon." The girl was slightly unhappy he wouldn't tell her now but nodded her head. It was obvious even to her naïve self that it was a sore subject for the blond.

"Okay Naruto. Musubi will wait until you're ready." He smiled and gave her a small hug before picking up his tent supplies and getting back to work. Musubi waited a moment before looking around and going off to grab some branches for firewood. She didn't want to just stand around doing nothing after all.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

_He was walking through a forest alone; however it wasn't a forest he recognized. The trees looked wild and untamed, entirely different from the forests in and around Konoha which were kept in a certain condition by the Shinobi that lived there. "Musubi? Ero-Sensei?" Naruto called out, wondering where they were. He even tried to feel Musubi through their bond and came up with a blank. "What's going on? Where am I?" He muttered as he walked around. As he walked deeper into the forest the trees grew thicker and closer together, almost as if to keep people out. _

_Eventually he made it to a clearing and looked around. "Hello?" He called out again, hoping to hear a reply just to hear someone sobbing in return. Naruto quickly spun around with his eyes darting all over before he found the source, a young girl high up in one of the larger trees. Naruto walked over until he was underneath her and placed a hand on the tree as he looked up. "Hey, are you okay up there?" He called up the girl._

"_Huh?" She muttered as she seemed startled someone was there. Looking down at the blond he gave a gentle smile._

"_Why don't you come down from there? Don't worry, I'll catch you." The girl looked from him and back to the tree for a moment so he spread his arms out and gestured for her to jump down. "I promise, I'll catch you and I always keep my promises." The girl waited a second longer before wiping her eyes and jumping down towards him. True to his word, Naruto moved and caught the girl out of the air before spinning her slightly to disperse the momentum of her fall. "There, now why don't you tell me your name? I'm Naruto Uzumaki." He introduced himself as he got a good look at the girl in his arms. She had long blond hair that went down her back and bright green eyes. She was wearing a one piece white dress with a bow on the back and wasn't wearing any footwear of any kind. She also seemed to be no older than eleven or twelve years old at the most._

"_K-Kusano." She replied timidly so Naruto sat down with her in his lap and gave a smile._

"_Well Kusano, how about you tell me why you were crying up in the tree?" The girl seemed saddened by that and wrapped her arms around Naruto as she buried her head into his chest._

"_Ku was just being selfish! She just wanted to go outside and then some mean people came and hurt Takami! And Ku ran and then the trees all got bigger and Ku was scared." The girl explained as Naruto started running a hand through the girls' hair and rocking back and forth slightly. A small known fact about his was that he seemed to have a natural skill with children in that he knew just what to do. "Now Ku's all alone and she doesn't know what to do."_

"_Hey, you're not alone." Naruto told her as she lifted her head to look into his smiling face. "I'm here aren't I? I'll help you out, I promise." Naruto said before using a hand to brush the tears out of the girls' eyes. "So don't cry Ku, I'll keep you safe. Now can you give me a smile?" He asked while lightly tickling her sides getting her to squirm in his lap for a second before giggling a little and smiling. "There we go. Pretty girls need to smile or everyone gets sad." Kusano giggled some more before starting to fade away, worrying both Naruto and the girl immensely and immediately. "Ku? Ku!"_

"_Help! Help me big brother!" She cried out as she faded away, Naruto staring at the spot she was just in. "Big brother!" Her voice echoed out._

"_Ku!" Naruto shouted as he tried to reach out to her._

"Ku!" Naruto shouted as he jerked awake into a sitting position, accidentally tossing off Musubi who had been sleeping on his shoulder again. He quickly looked around and saw that he was in his tent and Musubi was rubbing her eyes after the rather shocking wake-up call. The girl was also dressed in just an over-sized white t-shirt that was strained slightly against her breasts and a pair of panties that he could see when she stretched her arms up, accidentally lifting the hem of her shirt and exposing them.

"Mmm Naruto what's wrong?" She asked as she put her arms back down. Naruto held his head for a minute as he tried to make sense of what just happened, ignoring the Sekirei next to him. _"Was that a dream? No way, I've never had a dream like that before. It was way too real. I could really smell and feel the forest I was in! And the girl, Kusano, she was genuinely scared of something. I didn't make that up! That had to be real!'_ He thought as Jiraiya's voice called out from outside the tent.

"Yo Naruto! You alright in there? What was that screaming for?" He asked so Naruto sighed and turned to the side to grab his clothes for the day.

"Let's get dressed Musubi, I'll tell you guys about it over breakfast." The girl just nodded before pulling off the t-shirt and exposing her chest as she grabbed her clothes that she had set aside the previous night. It was only a couple minutes later that the three travelers were sitting around the remnants of their campfire eating a small breakfast of sandwiches that Jiraiya made. "All right, I just had the strangest dream ever and the thing is I know I just can't be a regular dream." Jiraiya was silent while thinking that whatever it was may have been Kyuubi influenced while Musubi just listened patiently. "I was walking through a forest on my own looking for you guys when I came to this clearing and there was this little girl. She was crying up in a tree so I got her to come down and I calmed her down some before having her tell me what was wrong. She was crying and scared because she had just been outside with someone when they were attacked by some people. She got scared and ran before saying the trees all grew around her and she got lost and stuck up in a tree. I tried to cheer her up when she started to fade away crying for me to help." Naruto explained. Jiraiya instantly ruled out it being possibly Kyuubi influenced but was having trouble thinking of what it could be when Musubi started bouncing up and down where she sat, holding her hand up as if she was a student in a classroom.

"Oh! Musubi knows! Musubi knows!" Jiraiya chuckled as Naruto just nodded his head for her to explain. "The professor said that sometimes when a Sekirei is looking for their Ashikabi but can't find them, they'll reach out for them in their dreams! I think she's a Sekirei that's reacting to you." Musubi explained as Jiraiya shrugged and Naruto looked a little lost.

"So what am I supposed to do now?" He asked as was still unsure about everything and this Sekirei/Ashikabi business was still new to him. Musubi gave him a scandalized look.

"Isn't it obvious? You've gotta find her!" She shouted getting both men to stare at her. "She's reacting to you! That means you're the one who's supposed to be her Ashikabi! Plus she's in trouble! You need to go help her!" Both men were shocked at the conviction in her voice as they'd never seen Musubi this way before Naruto nodded his head with a serious expression.

"Right plus I promised her in the dream I'd help her. I have to." Musubi smiled before both turned to Jiraiya who decided to play the voice of reason.

"Now hold on you two, we don't even know where you would start looking for this little mystery girl. All you said was she was in a forest. Provided where she really is happens to be like where she was in the dream you still only have a forest to go off of. That's at least eighty percent of Hi no Kuni alone, not counting the forests in other lands. You'd have no idea where to search, how are you supposed to find and help her? And this may just be an actual random dream, have you thought of that?" He asked as he pointed out how looking for her would be a bad idea. Musubi scowled at Jiraiya as he shot down their plans to look while also claiming she could've been wrong with what the professor told her.

Naruto on the other hand grinned. "Actually I do know where to look."

"Oh?" The sage asked, genuinely curious as to how Naruto knew.

"She said the trees grew so all we've gotta look for is a forest that's in a spot where there shouldn't be one." Jiraiya's eyes widened as he nodded, actually impressed by his students insight. If the trees really did grow around this girl then it would cause a brand new forest, or cause and existing one to be overgrown, he thought as since most of the country was forest it would be more likely than a brand new one. "So let's hurry to a town and you can go do your spy thing and find out where she is and then we can go rescue her!" Naruto declared as Musubi started smiling at how Naruto was going to go ahead and find the girl that was reacting to him. Jiraiya stayed silent as he finished his breakfast before turning back to his tent and began putting it away.

"Well, you might as well finish eating and clean up your stuff so we can go if that's your plan. But if this isn't in Hi no Kuni then you're gonna have to give it up Naruto. We've got a schedule to keep ya know." Naruto nodded as he stuffed the last of his food into his mouth and went to work putting his tent away, Musubi helping him as she was anxious to start looking for the girl that was reacting to her Ashikabi.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Two people walked along a desert path in a quiet pace.

That is until one raised his arms in the air and began shouting.

"FUCK THIS!" he shouted. The one in question was a young-looking man with short silver hair that was slicked back with distinctive purple eyes. He wore an Akatsuki robe with an open front that revealed his chest along with a Hidden Hot Water Village headband around his neck that had a slash through it. He had dark red polish on his nails as well as an orange ring on his left index finger. On his back was a large, red, triple-bladed with a rope attached to it. Lastly on his neck was a necklace that had a silver circle with an inverted triangle within it. The man kicked a stone at his feet, only for it to not budge. This resulted in a shiver going up his spine and he hopped on one foot while holding the other and shouting, "Fuck, fuck, that hurt! Why are we walking all the way over there?!

"Would you please shut up Hidan?" A man with an annoyed and deep, gravelly voice asked. This man had dark skin that was mostly hidden, as well as green, pupiless eyes with red sclera. He wore a white hood with a black mask that hid his face from the nose down and had a pointed headband on his forehead that had the symbol for the Hidden Waterfall Village with a slash through it. He also wore the usual Akatsuki robes, his closed up unlike Hidan's. His hands had dark red nail polish on them as well as a dark green ring on his left middle finger.

Hidan turned to his seemingly partner with an incensed expression and shouted, "I don't fucking know about you but it's pointless to walk all the way over there! Why do we need to be fucking here, eh Kakuzu!?"

Kakuzu narrowed his eyes and calmly said, "Complaining and shouting won't make things better. Besides, the only reason we're going there is because there's been rumors about a Sekirei who is able to use wood style beside, we could have collected the money earlier for those other Sekirei we found but you just had to sacrifice those two Sekirei instead of capturing them. Just one of those things is worth a fortune in the slave trade."

"Gahh, fuck you Kakuzu! Lord Jashin doesn't care about money! All he cares about is the pain and agony we cause our sacrifices before death! And those Sekirei makes good sacrifices for Lord Jashin! Besides using them for money is a waste of fucking time since Leader could care less about these Sekirei!" He shouted.

Kakuzu narrowed his eyes and said, "I don't want to hear about wasting time since those rituals of yours take valuable minutes we could be using to collect money. And I highly doubt Leader would take great concern if we traded one of them for a few hundred thousand ryo."

Hidan growled and equipped his scythe and charged while shouting, "Fuck you Kakuzu!"

Kakuzu raised his left arm as it turned to stone, blocking Hidan's scythe and said, "Try that again and I'll kill you."

Hidan withdraw his weapon. "Whatever let's just hurry up and go get that Sekirei!"

**Well that's the second chapter and I hope you got to enjoy it.**

**See Ya next time!**


	3. Chapter 3

**First off, people I need to tell you all please stop suggesting adding Karasuba, Miya, Kazehana, and Matsu to Naruto's flock. I'm actually quiet bored with that I mean there are too many stories that have them in Naruto's flock. So I will quote what ShadowStar91 said "Naruto will only be winging Musubi and Kusano. He will not get any other Sekirei. PERIOD! So please stop asking who he'll wing or if certain characters will be with him because they won't." Sorry if you all hate that but I'm sticking with that.**

**Rescue 108! Fight Off The Red Cloud!**

"Come on Ero-Sensei, hurry up!" Naruto called out as they were heading down the path to the next town. Musubi and Naruto were impatiently walking ahead before realizing Jiraiya was still behind and slowing down just to start walking faster again and having the cycle repeat itself. Jiraiya himself though wasn't too worried as they were basing their entire plan on a dream the boy had that night. True it was a very strange dream and one that Musubi had backed up as an entirely possible event for Sekirei, but Jiraiya wasn't entirely convinced it was more than just a dream. So he was walking faster than he would have normally but saw no reason to rush as he went over the facts in his head.

Last night Naruto had had a dream about going through a forest and finding a scared and crying little girl. The girl had apparently been attacked when she went out with someone and run off and gotten lost. Not only that but she had caused the trees around her that Naruto walked through to grow herself, like the First Hokage's **Wood style** apparently.

The girl had then faded away crying for help that Naruto promised to give before waking up. When he told him and Musubi, she backed it up as actually possible as Sekirei could apparently reach out to the one that was meant to be their Ashikabi through dreams, something Musubi called reacting. This fired Naruto up to actually keep his promise to the literal dream girl and demand they go looking for any wild forests where there shouldn't be any to find her.

"Mister Ero-Sensei, you're falling behind!" Musubi called out. The man sighed as he sped up a little more too hopefully get the two to stop shouting at him for being slow. Leave it to Naruto to find a way for even dreams to become trouble. Seriously could they get one week without something going on?

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Both Akatsuki members were walking through the woods trying to find their targets. "Any sign of her yet?" Hidan asked.

"It would likely go faster if you actually helped in the search Hidan." His partner commented. "Since this girl can't be tracked by normal means we have to actually spot her and two sets of eyes would work better than one."

"Hey, I'm just here to kill shit Kakuzu besides all that finding and capturing shit is your job."

"Apparently thinking is as well." Ignoring the cry of 'Fuck you!' the man continued. "This is a target you can't kill so make yourself useful and look damnit." Kakuzu ordered as he continued walking through the thick growth. Hidan growled as his partner left him behind before angrily slashing the tree next to him.

"Fucking money lover. I hope Lord Jashin tortures your ass in hell!" He shouted, though he was ignored again. "Fuck him. Fuck this brat. Fuck all of this. I'm gonna go look for something' to kill." He muttered before twirling his weapon and walking off in a different direction than his partner.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Alright you two, the next town is right beyond this hill." Jiraiya told the younger pair as they walked up a hill. After the two kept speeding ahead and then yelling for him to hurry he had rushed ahead and told them to stop that or he was calling it off and going straight to Konoha, dragging Naruto with if he had to. Neither had been happy about that and Musubi even offered to beat the man up for Naruto so they could look but the blond had told her no and that Jiraiya would, regretfully, kick their asses up and down the street if they tried.

Musubi had pouted so Naruto just pointed out that they had to go with his orders if they wanted to search so she reluctantly agreed (read: only gave in because he was her Ashikabi). "We go in, you two go looking around for rumors of strangely growing trees and I'll hit up my contact in this town for the same. Then we meet up in the center of town in one hour." The two nodded so he turned back to the path ahead of them as they reached the top of the hill and looked down. Jiraiya was gaping in shock and froze at the sight while both Musubi and Naruto were confused for a moment before their faces lit up and they rushed ahead.

The entire town had vanished, seemingly replaced by hundreds upon hundreds of giant twisting trees. A few buildings could be glimpsed on the edge of the trees but the main bulk of the town was hidden beneath the roots and branches. It was if the Shodai had risen from the grave and went wild with his bloodline. It was pretty much exactly as Naruto had said, the girl made trees grow around her. Apparently, she did so in the middle of a town and caused nature to overrun and reclaim the spot mankind had taken for themselves. Jiraiya slapped himself out of his shock before seeing that Naruto and Musubi had run ahead before rushing after them. "Hey slow down! We need a plan here!" Neither listened to him but instead kept running forward making the toad sage play catch up once more.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Alright Musubi, she's gotta be in here somewhere." Naruto muttered as they ran through the town-turned-forest at the ground level. Naruto had thought of tree-hopping like the Shinobi in him but decided against it as Musubi would be left behind then. Plus the upper level branches were all twisted into the other trees nearby completely covering the sky and only letting a little light through, making it feel like the middle of the night rather than just past noon. "We just have to find her."

"Right Naruto!" The girl cheered as she looked around, seeing a tree having grown through a building, riddling the wall with holes and cracks. "Uh Naruto? What's Musubi looking for?" She asked, realizing Naruto never described the girl.

"Huh? Oh right! Ku's a little girl with blonde hair, green eyes and a white dress." Naruto told her as he kept his eyes upward while they walked along. "She was up a tree in my dream so I think she'll be above us here too."

"Right!" The girl raised her head as Naruto finished and walked next to him before stumbling on a root and nearly falling. Naruto caught her and smiled as she blushed at nearly falling before thanking him and getting back to the search. However a few minutes later it happened again. This time though, Naruto didn't catch her in time and she fell flat on her face. "Owie!"

"You alright Musubi?" Naruto asked as he helped her to her feet once more, the girl rubbing her nose as he did.

"How does Naruto do it?"

"Huh? Do what?" The blond asked as he blinked in confusion. The girl just looked around before pointing up and then down.

"How does Naruto walk around looking up but not trip over the big branches and stuff?" The ninja looked down before looking back to Musubi and giving her a sheepish grin.

"A Shinobi is trained to feel their surroundings so something like that is just natural Musubi-chan." The girl nodded with a cute pout at how it was something from his training. "Were… were you trying to do that yourself?" He asked as he realized that was why she stumbled.

"Uh huh. Musubi wants to look for the little girl but that means she can't watch the ground and she fell over." The busty girl admitted as Naruto chuckled and shook his head.

"Well I don't think you can right now. So keep an eye out for Ku but make sure to watch where you're going." The girl pouted again but nodded as they started walking further into the forest again.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Damn idiot, where the hell did you two go? I came in right after you. How'd you get so far so fast?" Jiraiya muttered as he searched for his apprentice in the forest. The man was also paying special attention to the trees and the chakra in his surroundings. The trees were full of raw chakra, likely what was used for their creation, and it all felt the same meaning even if he tried sensing the girl out via sage mode he wouldn't be able to pinpoint her. Plus the way the trees grew, the town was completely destroyed. It would likely take years, decades even, for the town to remove all the new foliage and recover. "I hope nobody died during all of this." He muttered.

"Surprisingly, nobody did." Jiraiya spun around to face the source of the voice and had his eyes widen at the sight of the black cloak with red clouds before getting into a fighting stance to prepare. "The trees bent away and around any life nearby as they grew, causing the twisted and looping shapes I'm sure you noticed here." Walking up the green eyed man kept an eye on Jiraiya even as he looked at the trees around them. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Jiraiya of the Sannin."

"Akatsuki huh? What're you here for?"

"The Sekirei." Kakuzu admitted freely, making Jiraiya tense up as that was what they were there for as well. "My partner and I were sent out to capture her and bring her back with us. However he screwed up and she got away, forming these trees behind her."

"What does Akatsuki want with Sekirei? I thought you guys wanted the biju, or have you given up on them?" Kakuzu scoffed and set his briefcase down.

"Hardly, we've already got two biju in our possession, and we know you were traveling with the Kyuubi Jinchuriki so that means he's likely here in these woods somewhere. I'll capture him if possible but he's not my priority here. I'm only after the Sekirei currently."

"Why?" Jiraiya asked, trying to keep Kakuzu talking while he built up a plan to bring the man down.

"What do you know of Sekirei?" He asked getting the white haired man to shrug.

"Not much just that they need to find someone and fight other Sekirei. The only one I've met is kind of an airhead with a huge rack." Jiraiya admitted, careful not to say Naruto had winged one.

"A rather basic description but accurate nonetheless." Kakuzu admitted with a nod. "You see I'll admit the leader of the Akatsuki doesn't really care for them but I on the other hand do. Sekirei first search out a human that they bond with through a kiss to become their Ashikabi. They then are completely loyal and submissive to that person and will do anything and everything for them, no matter what it is they're told to do. In addition to that, each Sekirei has an ability that puts them on par with the average chunin and the skilled ones on par with the average jonin. Such loyal and powerful fighters are in high demand by Shinobi villages. And as most Sekirei are woman of extraordinary beauty, most daimyos and lords want one as well to have an exotic sex slave that can double as a bodyguard." Jiraiya was scowling at the man's blatant admission of how the Sekirei were going to be used as slaves. "If a Sekirei is unwinged then their loyalty has yet to be set and a simple kiss will force it out of them, whether they reacted to that person or not. As such, to help fund our goals Akatsuki has started hunting down the unwinged Sekirei to sell on the black market for profit."

"Then why not go after the paired Sekirei as well? Surely they'd get just as much cash as the others." Kakuzu shook his head.

"A winged Sekirei is already bonded and devoted to one individual. They would rather die than let something happen to them or serve someone else in most cases. Not only that but a winged Sekirei has access to more power and will fight harder for what they want. It's both easier to catch an unwinged, and easier to ensure they won't cause trouble for their new owner by simply having that person wings them and thus force them to obey. I was able to find out thank to one of our Akatsuki." Kakuzu said

"What do you mean by thanks to one of your members?" Jiraiya asked.

"Simple really, as it turns out one of our member is an Ashikabi." Kakuzu simply said as he saw Jiraiya's eyes widen.

"_No way?! A member of the Akatsuki is an Ashikabi?! _Jiraiya was just about ask until he saw Kakuzu turned slightly to the side so that Jiraiya could only see one hand. "This girl is young so she could be raised into whatever her buyer wants. Not only that but her ability is strong, if a bit unrefined. This is nothing like when Hashirama used his **Wood style**. I should know as I've actually fought that man before."

'_Fought the Shodai? That would put him near a century old!' _Jiraiya thought. "Who the hell are you?" He shouted while keeping himself on guard.

"Ah, right I forgot. I know who you are while I've become something of an urban legend by now." The man mused before shaking his head. "Well you deserve to know who will kill you. I am Kakuzu, formerly of Taki." He introduced before a black fist connected to black threads burst out of the ground at Jiraiya's feet aiming straight at his face.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Where is she?" Naruto grumbled as he and Musubi had yet to neither see nor here anything of the young girl in their search yet. Musubi was still looking for Kusano in the trees as she also glanced down occasionally to ensure she wouldn't trip like earlier. Naruto let out a sigh in frustration as he looked around. "This is taking too long. Ku could be in trouble!" Letting out a growl in frustration the blond placed a hand against a tree.

"_Big brother…"_

"Ku?" Naruto gasped out as the tree seemed to flash green and suddenly was replaced by Kusano. The girl stared up at him with wide eyes before pointing off to their right and vanishing in a green flash as the tree seemed to come back, as if it had never left in the first place. Looking over in the direction she pointed Naruto called over to Musubi as he started running. "Musubi, this way!" The girl spun around before following him without question. They ran for a bit while Naruto kept his eyes up but still saw no sign of the young Sekirei. "Where are you Ku? Come on, help me out here…" Naruto muttered before walking up to another tree and placing a hand on it like before. Again he saw a flash as Kusano appeared and pointed in a direction before vanishing. "This way."

"Wait up Naruto!" The brunette shouted as she took off after her Ashikabi, who had started running the moment he placed a hand on the tree. Eventually the two came upon a large clearing and Naruto was standing in the center looking up at the trees as he spun around looking for Kusano.

"Ku! Ku where are you?" He shouted as Musubi walked up to him. She didn't say anything as she joined him in searching the tree tops before she surprisingly noticed a small patch of white against the brown bark of the trees.

"Naruto, up there!" The blond spun and followed Musubi's pointing finger before giving her a hug in thanks and running up the tree towards the small figure. Meanwhile Musubi was on the ground staring in awe at another thing that Naruto could do. "That's so cool!"

"Ku?" Naruto asked as he reached the girl in the trees. She was curled in a ball with her back against the main part of the tree as she seemed to be crying. At hearing Naruto's voice her head lifted and her bright green eyes locked onto Naruto's own blue ones.

"Big brother!" She cried out as she held his arms open for her and she latched onto him. "Ku was so scared!"

"Hey now, I said I'd keep you safe didn't I?" He told her as he held her close and leapt to the ground. Channeling a bit of chakra to his feet and bending his legs as he landed kept him from falling flat from such a height as Musubi walked over. "Everything will be alright now Ku. I promise." The girl nodded her head that was still buried in Naruto's chest while Musubi smiled.

"She's so cute Naruto." Kusano looked over to the smiling girl wondering who she was and why she was with her Big brother so Musubi introduced herself. "I'm Sekirei 88, Musubi! What's your name?"

"K-Kusano." She quietly admitted. "Ku's 108!" She then added, realizing that Musubi gave out a number. Naruto blinked before remembering something.

"Oh yeah Musubi, didn't that professor guy say there were 108 Sekirei? Doesn't that mean she's the last one?" Musubi thought for a moment before nodding as that was what she remembered as well. Naruto then shrugged. "Okay. Anyways, we should get out of here and find Ero-Sennin now. I just know he's gonna yell at us for running ahead too." The group only took three steps before a voice stopped them.

"Well, well, well, what do we have here? I go looking for something' to kill and instead find the damn brat we were looking for. How's that for fucking lucky?" They spun around to see Hidan walking up with his scythe balanced against his shoulder. "Ha! Kakuzu's gonna throw a fucking fit when he finds out I found her first! Hey, blonde! Hand over the girl if you don't wanna die!" He shouted getting Kusano to try and hide in Naruto's chest.

"He's the meanie that hurt Takami! Help me Big brother!" She cried out as Naruto narrowed his eyes and Musubi scowled. Adjusting his grip on Kusano, Naruto quickly made his signature seal as a clone appeared.

"Take Ku and go hide somewhere safe." Naruto ordered the clone as he handed the girl over to his clone. She looked scared that he was sending her away and latched onto the clone as he took her. Seeing Ku's scared face Naruto smiled. "Don't worry Ku. Your Big brother and Musubi are just gonna make the meanie go away, alright? Then we'll come get you and we'll all go get something to eat, okay?" The blond boy promised before he nodded to the clone and it took off into the trees with the girl in its arms.

"Ah damnit! Now I've gotta find her again! You fucking ass! I'm gonna kill you for that!" Hidan ranted as Naruto was scowling at the man.

"I thought Akatsuki needed me alive?" He asked as Hidan froze before looking intently at Naruto.

"Blond hair, blue eyes, whiskers… why the hell is that famili- Holy shit! You're the kid Itachi's after! Ha! Even better! Now I can grab that brat and a jinchuriki in the same blow! Thank you Lord Jashin!" Hidan cheered before spinning his scythe and charging in. Naruto pulled out a kunai and held it in reverse grip as Musubi tightened her gloves on her hands before both nodded to each other and ran forward to meet Hidan's charge.

As they got close the Akatsuki ninja swung his scythe in a wide horizontal arc that Musubi rolled under and Naruto jumped over. While in the air Naruto kicked Hidan in the face as Musubi spun to her feet and punched the man hard in his back. Hidan was shoved forward by the force in Musubi's blow but didn't fall or otherwise react outside of cursing them for hitting him and charging back in. Naruto quickly tossed the kunai at Hidan, making him deflect with his scythe before he threw the large weapon at the blonde. Naruto leapt to the side as Musubi moved in to hit the weaponless man when he smirked.

"Did you really think I'd be that stupid?" He asked before pulling on a rope in his hand that they had overlooked. The rope was pulled taut before Musubi looked behind her to see it was attached to the scythe which was now flying back to decapitate her.

"Musubi get down!" Naruto shouted as he tackled the girl out of the way, letting Hidan catch his weapon. However before he could swing at them he was struck in the chest by two roundhouse kicks from Naruto's clones, sending him back into a tree. "Damn… what is our luck with scythes?" Naruto muttered, remembering the Sekirei from a couple days before. Musubi just nodded her agreement as they both stood and the clones rushed in to attack Hidan before he could recover. It was not to be however when he quickly slashed them apart with a couple rapid slashes of his tri-bladed weapon.

"I may have the slowest attack speed in Akatsuki brat but it's not going to be that fucking easy!" He called out. He then glanced at his scythe and sighed slightly. "Man I fucking hate killing clones. The stupid fuckers don't bleed." He then leveled the scythe at Naruto and Musubi. "But you will. I don't know who the babe is but she's not one of Akatsuki's' targets so I can kill her all I fucking want. So let's see who I get first!" He shouted as he charged back in. Naruto pulled out two more kunai as Musubi raised her fists to keep fighting.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Damn!" Jiraiya cursed as he leapt to the side of another blackened fist as it smashed into the ground where he was standing. He quickly tossed a kunai with an explosive tag tied to it and set it off, allowing the smoke from the explosion hide his movements as he ducked behind a tree. _'That damn __**Earth style: Earth Spear**__ of his is making physical attacks useless! Plus there's whatever Jutsu he's using to fire off his limbs and reattach them with those threads. I've gotta try to break through his armor somehow. If only Kakashi was here, that kid's lightning Jutsu could pierce right through him in a heartbeat!' _Jiraiya thought as the smoke cleared to show Kakuzu rubbing his hand but without a scratch.

"I actually felt that. Was that a custom tag made for more force?" Kakuzu called out as he had yet to remove his cloak or use any Jutsu besides the two he was already using. Jiraiya didn't fall for the trick though so Kakuzu looked around with narrowed eyes before shrugging. "I'm glad I already checked this area, so I know the Sekirei isn't around here. Otherwise I wouldn't do this." The man remarked before unzipping his cloak and taking it off. From his back two masks rose up to either side of his head and opened their mouths. **"Fire Style: Searing Migraine! Wind Style: Pressure Damage!"** He called out as one mask spewed out a twister and the other ignited it with a large fireball.

"Shit!" Jiraiya again cursed as he hunkered down where he was while the inferno blazed right next to where he was. _'He used a wind Jutsu to amplify a fire Jutsu to extreme levels! This guy doesn't fool around. That would've killed anybody caught in the blaze.' _Jiraiya thought before something caught his attention. _'Wait a minute, he's used three elements. I know it's possible to learn elements outside of your affinity, after all I did myself, but to know three of them and have them mastered to that level is impossible. Something's not right here.' _He mused before reaching into his pouch and pulling out a couple smoke and flash bombs. _'Let's find out what.'_

"I wonder if his body survived that? After all a Sannin would fetch a pretty high price at the bounty stations." Kakuzu mused before Jiraiya jumped out from behind a tree and threw a smoke bomb at him. The man snorted before firing off a weakened Atsugai again to clear the smoke just for a few flash bombs to go off in his face. The man covered his eyes as he was blinded before feeling an attack strike him.

"Let's see you stop this! **Rasengan**!" The grinding chakra dug into Kakuzu's skin which he had hardened on instinct when Jiraiya blinded him. A loud screeching noise was heard as Jiraiya shoved more chakra into the technique to keep it going before finally shoving Kakuzu back and letting the **Rasengan** go as the man was thrown through the air and into a building wall which collapsed on top of him. Jiraiya narrowed his eyes and kept his guard up as the smoke cleared to show Kakuzu lying amongst the rubble with a large bleeding spiral mark on his chest. The Sannin sighed before relaxing as he realized the Akatsuki man was dead. "Whew, I'm glad that's over. I don't know how it would've went had his partner showed up."

"You'd likely be dead by now." Jiraiya stared in shock as Kakuzu groaned and stood back up. "So that's what a **Rasengan feels** like. That's a pretty nasty Jutsu." He mused before coughing a couple times.

"No way! That was a kill shot! I know it was!" Jiraiya shouted.

"Hmph, you're right and you took out my earth heart with that trick." Kakuzu confirmed before turning around and showing that he had four masks sewn into his back, and that one had shattered. He then turned back and glared at Jiraiya. "You're going to replace that one with your own Sannin."

"What the hell? What do you mean 'earth heart?' You have more than one?" Jiraiya shouted while getting back into a ready stance as Kakuzu nodded.

"That's right, and you destroyed my earth one. But thanks to my **Earth Grudge Fear** I can simply take another to replace it. How else do you think I'm near a century old?" The man retorted sarcastically before two masks popped out over his shoulders again and Jiraiya cursed as he dodged once more. **"Fire Style: Searing Migraine! Wind Style: Pressure Damage!"**

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Will you fuckers just bleed already!" Hidan screamed as he swung at Naruto and Musubi again. The girl was nimble enough to dodge his scythe blows by rolling around them or jumping back whereas every time he cut Naruto the blond disappeared in a puff of smoke and came back in from another direction, showing that he kept replacing himself with clones every time it looked like he would get hit. Musubi ducked under a wide slash before springing back up and striking him in the chin with a strong right uppercut. As Hidan was lifted into the air, Naruto came down and channeled chakra into his leg before axe-kicking them man onto his back. The pair then leapt back in case he tried to attack as he got up.

"Damn, this guy's tough. Anybody else would've been out of it by now but he just keeps getting back up." Naruto groaned as Musubi nodded next to him, both starting to breath heavily from the fight. Both loudly groaned as Hidan stumbled back to his feet and glared at them. "You got any ideas Musubi?" Naruto asked as he kept his eyes on their opponent.

"You stay down!" Musubi childishly shouted at Hidan while pointing at him, getting extremely annoyed at how he kept getting back up. While the girl liked fighting, it was more the challenge of testing herself against another that she enjoyed. Despite knowing she shouldn't have, Musubi had been excited to fight Hidan when they started. However her joy had faded by now as she was getting irritated that no matter what she and her Ashikabi did, he got right back up and continued fighting. "Cheater! Stop getting up when Naruto and Musubi knock you down!"

"Heh, heh, not a chance in hell babe!" Hidan shouted back as he again threw his scythe at the two. Musubi rolled to the side as Naruto jumped back again. The man retracted his scythe with a laugh as he headed for Musubi again. Naruto grit his teeth but decided he had enough and formed a clone right next to him. The chakra construct instantly knew what to do and began forming a **Rasengan** over its creator's hand, though it was far larger than normal. "Now bleed for me!" Hidan shouted as Musubi side-stepped another slash before pivoting on her foot to avoid the follow-up. She threw a punch at the man but missed as he leaned back and then shoulder rushed her, making her stumble back and fall on the ground. "You're mine!" Hidan shouted as he raised his scythe. But he never got a chance to drop it as Naruto and his clone slammed the oversized **Rasengan** in his back.

**"Giant Rasengan!"** He and the clone shouted as the attack propelled Hidan clear over Musubi and a distance away before detonating in a large chakra explosion. Naruto struggled to catch his breath as the clone helped Musubi to her feet before dispelling. She was quick to wrap and arm around Naruto for support as she looked at him with stars in her eyes.

"That was so cool Naruto! Why didn't you use that earlier though?" She asked as Naruto let out a deep breath seeing as he was starting to catch his second wind.

"Because it takes a bit of time to set up and I couldn't see an opening until I stepped back and let you distract him. You aren't hurt, are you Musubi?" He asked, feeling slightly guilty at leaving her to fight an S-ranked ninja on her own even if it was only for a short amount of time.

"Musubi's fine." She answered, getting the blond to smile. Seeing her Ashikabi smile made the girl gain one of her own as they turned to walk towards where a clone was hiding with Kusano when Hidan's red scythe implanted itself in Naruto's back.

"That fucking hurt you bastard!" He shouted as Musubi screamed at seeing Naruto with the weapon in his back. The blond himself had shoved Musubi away the second he felt it touch his skin and coughed up blood. Hidan's cloak was entirely gone and his skin was ripped open across his back and chest, bleeding profusely. With a grin he pulled on the rope and ripped his scythe from Naruto's back and caught it as it soared through the air back to his hand. Licking some of the blood off the weapon, Hidan's skin turned black with white skeletal bones overlaying in the appropriate spots giving him an appearance similar to a human skeleton. "Now… Now the fun begins!"

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Musubi's scream echoed loudly throughout the forest as it even reach Jiraiya and Kakuzu where hey were fighting, getting the elder to pause as Jiraiya stared worriedly in the direction it had come from. "Shit, Musubi!" Turning back to Kakuzu, Jiraiya narrowed his eyes. "Looks like I better finish this up." Kakuzu however gestured towards where Jiraiya had just been staring.

"Let me guess, you have a Sekirei and you sent her to find the girl?" He asked and Jiraiya snorted.

"No, she's Naruto's Sekirei and they rushed ahead since the girl showed up to the brat in a dream last night." Jiraiya admitted while gathering his chakra for an attack. Kakuzu chuckled.

"So apparently the girl I'm after has reacted to the Nine tail jinchuriki. Interesting, however, that doesn't mean much since she hasn't been winged yet. And if that girl is screaming like that then that means Hidan found them. He should recognize the jinchuriki from Itachi's report but as for his Sekirei… well, needless to say the man is rather fond of bloody kills." Kakuzu explained while one mask popped out over his shoulder this time rather than two.

"That's just more reason for me to finish this!" Jiraiya shouted while he ran towards the former Taki ninja while making signs.

**"Lightning Style: False Darkness!"** Kakuzu declared as the mask opened its mouth and launched a white bolt of electricity at the Sannin. Jiraiya leapt up to dodge it as he finished his hand signs and raised a hand to his mouth.

**"Fire Style: Giant Flame Bombs!"** The toad sage launched a large ball of flame at the Akatsuki ninja who dodged easily. However the fireball had been a feint from the beginning as it drew attention away from the man himself, who had been running through more hand-signs. **"Summoning Jutsu!"** He declared as he slammed a hand on the ground the second he landed, bringing out two large green man sized toads in samurai armor and carrying staffs. "We're both busy men here Kakuzu so I'll give you an ultimatum. We both go over there and you grab your partner and leave, or I go over then and kill him while you'll be dead here. Take your pick." The ancient man snorted as two masks appeared over his shoulders.

"Personally, I prefer option three; I kill you and go help out my idiotic partner." He told the man while launching another wind and fire combination at him. Jiraiya just smirked as the toads croaked and crossed their staffs while using their free hand to make a half-ram sign each. There was a flash as the combination Jutsu connected before being launched at Kakuzu whose eyes widened in shock as he took his own attack head on. When the smoke cleared his shirt had been burnt off revealing a scarred and stitched body as he was coughing up blood. "Damn you… that took out two more."

"I kinda figured you'd stick to long range. That's why I summoned these two buddies of mine. On their own, each one is skilled enough to take on your average jonin but neither has anything truly distinguishing about them. However together, these twins can pull off one of the toads strongest barrier Jutsu, the **Mirror Flower Barrier**. That handy little Jutsu can take just about every ninjutsu around and turn it back on its caster, in this case you." Jiraiya explained with a smirk.

Kakuzu glared as he was panting from losing three hearts to the younger male. "So that's three. Considering you've used a grand total of four elements and earlier your remark about how I destroyed your 'earth' heart specifically, I'd say you had five hearts, one for each element. And now I've taken out three, earth and two others. Since you haven't thrown up your Earth Style since losing your earth heart it's safe to say you lose access to an element once its corresponding heart is destroyed. I wonder what two I took out with your own attack?" The man mused as even the toads grinned. Kakuzu glared at Jiraiya while running over his options in his mind. He honestly was surprised by how skilled the man was, not expecting even half of this fight. The man certainly earned his title as one of the Sannin. "The offer's still open if you want it." Jiraiya called out. "I mean, it's not like you've got any better options."

**"Grr…Lightning Style: Earth Flash!"** He cried as a mask shot out of his back and launched a lightning bolt at him. The toads reactivated their barrier as the blast was redirected at the mask that launched it causing an explosion. When the smoke cleared though, Kakuzu was nowhere to be seen, having sacrificed a heart for the maneuver. Jiraiya narrowed his eyes before thanking the toads and dispelling them.

'_Good thing he did that. I'm just about out of chakra so I don' know who would've won that had we continued.' _The man thought about his bluff while turning to run towards where the scream had come from earlier. _'Naruto, Musubi… please be safe.'_

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Aah!" Naruto screamed as his arms burned and bled from the wounds Hidan had just inflicted. Ever since the man's' skin had turned things had changed drastically. He had first used his own blood to mark a symbol into the ground, the same one he wore around his neck, before pulling out a collapsible black pike. Before Musubi or Naruto could do anything he had stabbed himself in the left leg, getting Naruto to drop down clutching the same spot on his own leg as the wound suddenly appeared. Musubi had screamed and rushed over to Naruto as he cried out in pain. Hidan had then started stabbing himself all over in non vital areas as the wounds transferred in real-time to the blond. The healing granted to him by the Kyuubi was honestly the only thing keeping the blond conscious and stopping him from bleeding out already.

"Naruto!" Musubi cried out again as Naruto screamed. The girl was terrified as she didn't know what to do or how to help her Ashikabi. Glaring at Hidan she got up and ran at him with her fist drawn back. "Stop hurting Naruto!"

"Musubi stay back!" Naruto shouted getting the girl to freeze just in time before Hidan chopped her in half with a scythe swing she was too enraged to notice. The blade still managed to cut her top though, revealing her large chest to the world. She quickly backpedaled to Naruto's side while still glaring at the man. "Stay a-away from him." Naruto ordered. "I-I don't want him d-doing this to you t-to."

"But Naruto!" She yelled. There just had to be a way to stop Hidan from hurting him with his weird attack.

"Hahahahaha! This is wonderful brat! Such delicious pain! And you're still conscious! I haven't had this much fun in weeks!" Hidan taunted before taking the pike and carving an X across his chest. Naruto again cried in pain as the mark appeared on his as well. "Oh yeah, that's the stuff. You're lucky I can't kill you brat." The man told them before looking to the girl or rather her chest. "You know, maybe before I kill her I can have a bit of fun. It's been a while since I fucked someone." Musubi was still glaring at the man as while she didn't understand what he meant to do to her, she knew that she'd rather die than let him do anything simply because of what he was doing to Naruto. The blond however froze as he did know what the man meant. "Yeah, that's what I'll do. With a rack like that I'll definitely enjoy myself."

"Musubi-Chan, I want you to run to my clone and Kusano and go find Ero-Sensei." Naruto ordered.

"But-"

"No buts!" Naruto growled out as he struggled to stand. "Get to Kusano and take her to Ero-Sensei." The blond was on his knees now while his head was bent forward hiding his face from view. Musubi was starting to get a warm feeling again but unlike before when she was winged by Naruto, this warmth didn't feel good. Rather, it felt like she was burning up. It was only mildly uncomfortable at the moment but it was something she didn't like. She would've opened her mouth to try and argue against leaving him when she saw his wounds were steaming and healing before her eyes.

"Naruto, your injuries…!"

"You think I'm gonna let you do anything to Musubi you stupid fucker?" Naruto shouted out as he raised his head, revealing that his whisker marks had thickened into wild jagged lines and his eyes had gone from a bright blue to a blood red with the pupils lengthening to vertical slits. Next to him Musubi gasped at seeing Naruto lose himself to the Kyuubi. The burning feeling seemed to get slightly worse as she clutched a hand to her bare chest and grimaced. Naruto however didn't notice as he was focusing on Hidan. "I'm going to kill you bastard!" Naruto shouted again before rushing the older man.

Hidan grinned and stabbed his leg but Naruto kept charging through the pain, even as the wound healed almost instantly. This caused the Akatsuki ninja to scowl as he stabbed both legs in rapid succession. Naruto stumbled for a moment but didn't stop as he kept charging and left the wounds for Kyuubi to heal. Hidan couldn't get another injury off as Naruto was right on top of him and tackled him out of the symbol, not even knowing the significance of the act.

"Get off you little fucker!" Hidan growled as he tried to punch Naruto. The blond however caught his fist and twisted, snapping the man's wrist. Hidan cried out as he was forced to drop his scythe and before he could stab the blond Naruto used his chakra to sharpen his nails into claws and actually chop the other hand off. "Ah! You fucking bastard! I'll kill you!"

"Not if I kill you first bitch!" Naruto shouted back before he started raining down multiple punches on the man's' face below him, each one bouncing Hidan's head off the ground and into the next hit. The enraged teen didn't let up as he threw punch after punch into Hidan's face, breaking his nose and jaw and even cracking his skull over time. It was five minutes later that Naruto stopped, panting heavily as he stood up. He glared down at the dazed man below him before giving one last kick to his head and walking off.

**"Wind Style: Great Vacuum Cannon!"**

Naruto was thrown to the side and into a tree as Kakuzu landed in the clearing. With a quick glance at the blond to see his condition and another glance at the shocked brunette, the man grabbed Hidan and his scythe before leaping away. And not a moment too soon as Jiraiya came busting through the trees with a kunai in hand. When he saw that Naruto was holding his head and groaning while Musubi was on her knees staring at Naruto in shock he relaxed somewhat.

"Naruto! Musubi! Where's the Akatsuki?"

"A really tall guy with lines all over him just came in and grabbed the cheating meanie we were fighting and ran away!" Musubi called out, her eyes not leaving Naruto's form. Jiraiya blinked before translating what Musubi said into Kakuzu appearing and grabbing his partner for a retreat. He sighed and put the kunai away as he relaxed. By this time Naruto had stood up and was glaring as he looked around the clearing.

"Where is that fucker?" He shouted, still under some of the Kyuubi's influence.

"Naruto…" Musubi's voice made him whirl on her but he froze when he saw her face. The girl was holding one hand to her chest as there were tears forming in her eyes. The blond was wondering why she would be crying and if he could hurt the cause before it hit him; _he _was the cause. His drawing on the Nine tail's chakra and becoming such a fierce and violent person was scaring her. His brutal beat down of Hidan had left her afraid of him. Letting the last dregs of Nine tail's power leave his system, Naruto's eyes returned to normal as his did his whiskers.

"Musubi I…" Naruto didn't get to say much more as Musubi had barreled into him and was hugging him.

"I was so scared Naruto-!" She cried out, not in the third person for once showing just how worried she really was. "You were hurt really bad and I couldn't do anything to help! And then you got up as your injuries went away and I started burning up. And you went and really beat up that man and it was scary! Naruto you were scary!" She admitted as Naruto flinched in her grip and lowered his head. "But I don't care." Naruto found his head raised by Musubi as she looked into his eyes. "Naruto-sama was only scary to keep Musubi safe so I don't care!" She declared with a small smile even as the ears in her eyes fell. Naruto couldn't help but lower his head back down and wrap his arms tightly around the girl in response.

"Thank you Musubi. And I'm sorry."

"It's okay Naruto." The blond broke the hug to see Jiraiya standing off to the side with a small smile on his face.

"You alright Ero-Sensei?" Naruto asked.

"Oh I'll be fine with a good meal and some rest. You're apparently the one who got hurt." The man responded. He then glanced around the clearing before facing Naruto again. "So, did you find the girl?" He asked getting Naruto to blink before face palming himself.

"Right, Ku! I totally forgot! Come on, I've got a clone watching over her." The blond admitted before leading them towards the little girl. Musubi holding onto Naruto's hand with one of her own as her other arm covered her chest, remembering Naruto saying it apparently wasn't right for girls to expose themselves around men they weren't close to and she didn't feel that close to Jiraiya. The three walked silently for a little bit before Naruto stopped and whistled as his clone dropped down from above with Ku sleeping silently in his arms.

"She fell asleep as soon as we went into hiding, thankfully before Musubi screamed so she didn't hear that. She must've been really tired from making the forest and hiding from Akatsuki this whole time." The clone explained before handing the girl gently to his creator. Musubi let go of his hand and was now using both arms to cover her chest and Naruto cradled the girl in his arms and Jiraiya leaned in for a closer look.

"So this is her huh?" He whispered so as to not wake her. Naruto just nodded as he looked around at the trees and then smiled back at her sleeping form. "Well, just give a few years and a bit of training and we could have a female Shodai in the making."

"Musubi still thinks she's cute." The girl commented as Naruto just grinned.

"Come on, let's get out of here."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

The group was now in another clearing near the path back to Konoha as they had set up camp a while ago. Jiraiya was going over some notes about Akatsuki and trying to think of their next possible move while Musubi had volunteered to cook dinner and was making some kind of curry. This just left Naruto who was sitting at the edge of camp on a log staring up at the sky. At least until Kusano walked up with a blanket wrapped around her.

"Big brother…" The blond smiled to the girl before patting the spot next to him on the log.

"Why don't you sit down Ku?" The girl silently walked over and did as he suggested while she joined him in staring at the sky. They sat in silence for a bit before Naruto asked a question. "So are you alright Ku?" She nodded her head. "The Akatsuki guys didn't do anything to you?" She shook her head so he smiled and went back to looking at the stars above. "That's good to hear."

"Onii-chan…" Kusano started making him face her once more as she pulled the blanket around her tighter. "Thank you Onii-chan. Ku was scared but now she's not." She admitted so Naruto smiled and wrapped an arm around her and pulled her close.

"I told you I'd keep you safe remember? And I always keep my promises." The girl nodded in his embrace. "Now why don't you smile? Remember what I said? Pretty girls should smile." Ku gave a small smile at that before standing next to him on the log so that her head was level with his. She then grabbed his head with both hand even as the blanket fell to the log. Naruto was confused but didn't say anything.

"Big brother…" Kusano began while looking down. "Will Big brother be Ku's Ashikabi?" She asked before not even waiting for an answer as she darted forward and kissed him on the lips. Naruto's mind froze at the fact he was kissing a little girl before he mentally shrugged thinking it was likely for the best as he could protect her easier. He didn't kiss back though as he was not a pedophile and simply let the girls press her own lips to his. Meanwhile the Sekirei crest formed on Kusano's back as green wings that looked similar to vines with leaves for feathers extended from the mark and seemed to flap a couple times before fading. As they did though all the plant life around them and even back in the camp all seemed to grow suddenly, even making some flowers and vines grow where there were none before. Finally Ku pulled back and smiled at Naruto before hugging him. "Thank you Big brother." The blond just wrapped his arms around the girl and hugged her back, happy he could help.

**Well I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter.**

**See ya!**


	4. Chapter 4

**.**

**02 Says Welcome Back**

"Well Naruto, there it is." Jiraiya commented as the group paused at a hill outside of a massive walled village.

"Yeah" The blond commented fondly as he looked down at the village. Sitting on his shoulders with her hands in his hair was Kusano while standing to his right was Musubi. The older girl had been happy Naruto winged the younger and Jiraiya agreed it was probably for the best as he told him in secret how Akatsuki was targeting unwinged Sekirei's for sale on the black market. Had Naruto not winged her, she still would've been a target. Had they let someone else wing her then there was no guarantee she would be treated well or taken care of. Letting Naruto wing Ku was the best option. It didn't stop the perverted Sage from taunting the boy about his apparent pedophiliac nature but he quickly stopped that when Naruto tried to shove a **Rasengan** where the sun doesn't shine.

"Big brother, big brother! Is that where you're from?" Ku asked from his head as she tugged his hair to get his attention.

"Ow, Ku not so hard." Naruto said.

"Naruto is that it?" Musubi asked as she was also wondering about the village hey saw down below. Naruto just smiled and nodded.

"Yeah… That's Konoha, my home."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"The place looks just like I remember it!" Naruto cheered as the group of four walked right in. A few glanced at him and smiled upon recognizing Jiraiya. When they turned their attention to Naruto though there were a few other reactions. Most was shock, not because he looked different or because of how he was dressed but because he had a kid on his shoulders and a beautiful woman at his side. Some stared in lust, men at Musubi and even a couple women at Naruto and a few, surprisingly small in number, glared at the boy once they recognized him.

They stopped at a light post as Naruto slid his pack off his back and let it fall to the ground. "Musubi wait here okay?" The girl nodded before he looked up to Kusano. "Hold on tight Ku." The girl had an idea what he was going to do and gripped him harder and nodded with a large grin on her face. Naruto grinned before running straight up the pole and stopping at the top even as Jiraiya smiled fondly at how his student was acting and Musubi pouted.

"No fair! Musubi wants to do that too!" Jiraiya chuckled at her words.

"I'm back Konoha!" Naruto cheered as he stood at the top with Kusano giggling in his hair as she kept a tight hold. He grinned as he looked around before his eyes fell on the Hokage Monument and he noticed it was different than he remembered. "Heh, they finally added Granny Tsunade's face huh?" He muttered before looking to see if he could spot any other changes before he heard his voice called from below.

"Naruto? Is that you?" The two blonds looked down to see a man with spiky white hair that stood on end calling out to him from next to Jiraiya and Naruto grinned. The man also had his left eye covered by his head band and wore the standard Konoha jonin outfit of a green combat vest with a red spiral on the back and blue Shinobi pants and sandals.

"Hold on Ku, I'm gonna jump." He told the girl as she just grinned.

"WHEEE!" She cheered as the boy did just as he said and jumped down, channeling chakra to his feet to land safely. When he stood back straight she pulled on his hair. "Again! Again!"

"Maybe later Ku." He commented before looking to the man who called him. "Hey Kakashi-sensei! How's it been?" He asked as the man looked to the girl on his shoulders and how she was attached to Naruto.

"I'm fine Naruto but I take it you've got quite the story to tell don't you?" He asked before Musubi wrapped Naruto in a hug from the side.

"Naruto! Why does only Ku-chan get to be carried around while you do all the cool ninja jumps and stuff? Musubi wants to try it too!" On his head Ku stuck her tongue out at the older girl for getting to do it while Musubi pouted. Naruto blushed as he was pressed into Musubi's chest from the side before Kakashi coughed to get attention.

"Um… Naruto? Who are these two?" Jiraiya meanwhile was just chuckling in the background at the antics of Naruto and his Sekirei. He could practically taste the new book he would write from all the inspiration the boy was unknowingly giving him. Naruto shook his head to get his thoughts together before pointing to his Sekirei in turn.

"This is Musubi and Kusano. They're my Sekirei, I'm an Ashikabi now." He explained and Kakashi's eye widened slightly before he grinned his trademarked eye-smile.

"Really? You're an Ashikabi as well?"

"Wait, you mean Naruto's not the first one in Konoha?" Jiraiya asked and Kakashi nodded.

"Yeah, we've got a few already. In fact-"

"Kakashi! Kakashi!" A woman cried out. Jiraiya, Naruto and his Sekirei looked around wondering who had just called out for the silver haired man when the woman ran up and tried tackling the man in the street. The man caught her and spun to avoid falling before setting her down and sighing.

"Matsu, what'd I say about getting me in the streets?" He asked getting his Sekirei to chuckle nervously. "Anyways, nice timing let me introduce you to my student and his Sekirei. This is Naruto Uzumaki, Musubi and Kusano." Kakashi pointed to them in turn so the woman gave a short bow.

"Nice to meet you all I'm Sekirei 02, Matsu." Matsu had long red braided hair as well as a pair of large glasses on her face. He outfit was a rather simple dress that went down her legs. However it also drew attention to her rather sizable chest as it had an opening between her breasts.

"Wait, Kakashi-sensei you mean…" Naruto trailed off as the man nodded.

"Yep, I'm an Ashikabi as well Naruto." The man answered as Musubi seemed to pop up right in front of Matsu.

"I'm Sekirei 88, Musubi!" The girl cheered before raising her fists. "I challenge you!" She cried before pouncing, not even giving Matsu a chance to answer. The girl screeched for a moment before ducking and then hiding behind Kakashi as Musubi missed her.

"Kakashi please help!" Matsu cried out.

"Naruto stop her! There's some stuff about Sekirei in Konoha you don't know." The man ordered so Naruto cocked his head to the side but set Kusano down before rushing up and grabbing Musubi from behind, wrapping his arms around her waist as she tried to attack Matsu again.

"Naruto let go! Musubi needs to beat her remember?" She asked as she stopped fighting right there. Naruto didn't let go but he did let up on the pressure.

"Yeah but if Kakashi-sensei says there's stuff we don't know then we've gotta listen." The girl pouted but nodded so Naruto let her go. Matsu breathed out a sigh of relief as Musubi stopped. Kusano picked up Naruto's pack and brought it over to the boy who smiled and slipped it back on before taking her hand in his left and grabbing Musubi's with his right.

"Not bad Kakashi, she's really beautiful." Jiraiya commented as he walked up and Kakashi grinned.

"Thank you Jiraiya-sama." He then turned to Matsu and gestured to the man. "Matsu, this is Jiraiya of the Sannin." The woman seemed to freeze for a second before she squealed and was instantly in front of Jiraiya with books in her hands. Where she got them was what Naruto and his Sekirei were wondering.

"You're Jiraiya? THE Jiraiya? Author of the Icha Icha series?! Sign my books! Please sign my books Jiraiya!" The man looked to Matsu in shock and then back to Kakashi with a massive perverted grin.

"Kakashi you are a lucky, lucky man."

Kakashi just chuckled while rubbing the back of his head. "What can I say Jiraiya? It just happened."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

After the man had signed the girl's books Kakashi led them to the Hokage's office to check in with Tsunade. Along the way, Naruto was pointing various things out to Musubi and Kusano about the village with Kakashi adding some input of his own every once in a while. Meanwhile a couple feet behind them Matsu and Jiraiya were talking about the man's porn series, both with matching perverted grins. As they entered the building and walked up to the office Kakashi knocked and after getting an enter he opened the door. "Tsunade guess who showed up today?" He asked before stepping aside for Naruto to come forward.

A woman with blonde hair tied into twin ponytails down her back wearing a green jacket with the kanji for 'gamble' on it looked up. On her forehead was a purple diamond while her large chest was easily as big as Musubi's. "Hm?" She grunted before laying eyes on the spiky haired blond before her. The boy barely had time to react as the woman was in front of him in a second hugging him. "Naruto! It's good to see you again brat." The boy let go of Musubi's and Ku's hands to hug the woman back before she took a step back and he grinned.

"Good to see you too Granny."

WHAM!

"OW! Ya old hag why'd you hit me?!"

"First thing you do when you come back is call me that? Damn brat! I thought two years away might've taught you some manners! I guess I should've known better with that pervert teaching you." Tsunade grumbled before catching a punch from Musubi's red gloved fist with wide eyes. That punch was on her level of strength!

"Don't hit Naruto!" Next to the girl was Kusano who was also glaring up and the woman for hitting her Big brother. She noticed the way Kusano had blond hair like Naruto before groaning as she instantly thought of the worst conclusion.

"Oh no. Brat! You went and had a brat?!"

"What?!" Naruto shouted as he jumped to his feet. "No way Granny!"

"Then explain the girl attacking me over you and the midget glaring at me." Tsunade fired back as she pointed a finger at the two girls in question. Musubi still looked ready to fight and while Kusano had moved to gripping Naruto's leg, she was still glaring up at the oldest blond in the room.

"They're my Sekirei." Tsunade blinked for a moment before looking to Musubi and Kusano again and then back to Naruto. She then sighed and sat in her seat as she pinched her nose.

"You mean you're in this mess too?"

"Is it safe to come in yet?" Jiraiya asked from outside the room with Matsu hiding behind him. The moment Tsunade locked eyes on him he flinched as Matsu dashed out and switched to hiding behind Kakashi, who was safely out of her direct focus and standing off to the side of the room.

"YOU!" Tsunade shouted while pointing towards Jiraiya.

"Now now Tsunade I can explain." Jiraiya said trying to calm Tsunade down.

"FRONT AND CENTER! NOW!" The man was in front of her desk and standing at attention in 0.6 seconds at her demand while the door had been closed behind him. "Now you and Naruto are going to explain everything, starting from when you left to when you got here. You leave anything out you pervert and I swear to God you won't have a need to peep on people since you won't have anything anymore got it?!"

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

An hour later and Tsunade was sorely tempted to pull out her sake and start drinking. However with a child in the room that wasn't an option. No need to explain her adult drink to a twelve year old. She glanced over to where Naruto was sitting with Kusano in his lap and Musubi on his right while Jiraiya was still standing in front of her desk, though he had relaxed by now. Kakashi and Matsu were standing on the opposite side of the room as Naruto, with the woman leaning back into Kakashi as he had his arms wrapped around her. "So this only happened in the past week?" She asked for clarification while pointing at the girls with Naruto.

"Yes Tsunade I swear. I left to go talk to a contact about Akatsuki and when I came back to the hotel room me and the gaki rented for the night he was already there sleeping with her next to him wearing his jacket because her top had been destroyed." Jiraiya repeated.

"And then you went and picked up the little one a couple days ago?"

"She appeared in Naruto's dream calling for help and Musubi said Sekirei can do that when they're reacting so we agreed we'd look, but ended up finding her in the very next town which she had turned into a forest with her powers." He explained before tilting a head to the side.

"You might want to check on that by the way. I'm sure a request has or will come in about a newly made ghost town overrun by trees." The woman made a mental note to do that or send a team later anyways before motioning him to go on. "We searched the forest but were also confronted by Akatsuki. Apparently they're looking for unwinged Sekirei for a reason I'll tell you later. Naruto managed to hold his own against one with Musubi's help and I drove the other one off so they retreated. Then we found the girl and Naruto winged her two nights ago. Nothing else happened since then other than our arrival." The woman nodded before looking to Naruto.

"Good job on surviving brat. All of Akatsuki are S-ranked."

"I know, but they were going to hurt Ku and they're after me anyways. I'm gonna face them sooner or later so I figured I'd try and get it out of the way."

"Think a little more carefully next time but I guess it turned out alright." She sighed out before looking to Matsu. "Matsu, can Sekirei really breach a person's dreams if they're reacting?" As number 02, as well as a brain-type, Matsu had become Tsunade's, and by extension Konoha's, Sekirei information center. She was also the first Sekirei in Konoha as Kakashi had encountered and subsequently winged her almost five months ago.

"Yes. It doesn't happen often but it is possible." She answered while adjusting her glasses slightly, making the light gleam off them. "Matsu's more surprised by Musubi's strong reaction to Naruto-tan. That means he must be a really powerful Ashikabi to cause that." She said while glancing at the pair.

"So what happens now" Naruto asked as he looked to Tsunade. "And how many Sekirei are in Konoha right now?"

"A good number I guess. A couple of your friends are Ashikabi's as well." Tsunade answered. "But before anything else I need to explain something. This is mostly for you Musubi so listen up." The girl straightened and focused on Tsunade so she nodded. "Since Sekirei are such strong fighters, they may join our Shinobi force alongside their Ashikabi if they want to. You're also welcome to stay in Konoha as long as you wish. I know Sekirei are supposed to fight each other due to the Sekirei Plan M.B.I. made however I've made a law concerning just Sekirei and their Ashikabi. You're free to fight and defeat any Sekirei you meet outside the village but you won't fight any allied with Konoha until they're the only ones left. Understood?" The girl tilted her head so Naruto chimed in.

"She means you can't fight Matsu or any Konoha Sekirei until we're all that's left." The girl made an 'O' with her mouth and punched her left fist into her right palm.

"Oh so Musubi just has to go beat up all the other Sekirei first and then she can fight Matsu."

"Pretty much." Everyone other than Kusano, Musubi and Naruto sweat dropped at the girl's naïve nature and Naruto's just as simple answer.

'_She's just like Naruto when he was younger.' _Kakashi thought. "Naruto, where are you going to live?" he man asked to get the conversation back on the focus of what he was going to do now.

"What d'ya mean? Is something wrong with my apartment?" Naruto asked.

"No. It's just that place is kind of small for three people." The man pointed out so Naruto actually grimaced.

"Oh yeah…" He muttered as he thought about his old home. If it was just him and Musubi then maybe it would work since Musubi would just jump into bed with him either way. Technically Kusano would too but his bed was too small and it wouldn't work well if all three of them constantly shared the same room and bed. "I'm gonna have to get a bigger place then. At least a two bedroom I think."

"With a big bed." Jiraiya commented with a grin. Naruto nodded his agreement but at Tsunade's questioning glance at them the man chuckled. "Ever since they bonded, Musubi's been sleeping in the same bed with Naruto and for the past couple nights little Ku's joined them."

"Brat…" Tsunade growled and he paled. Musubi and Kusano glared, still remembering how she had hit Naruto while Jiraiya waved Tsunade down.

"Calm down Tsunade, the kids still a virgin. They've just been sleeping together in the literal sense of sleeping." He remarked getting Naruto to blush and Musubi and Kusano to blink in confusion. Matsu and Kakashi on the other hand shared a similar giggle at Naruto's expense.

"What's a virgin?" Musubi asked with a tilted head, Kusano mirroring her actions as Naruto blushed brighter and Jiraiya barked out a laugh. Kakashi face palmed while Matsu started giggling perversely and Tsunade groaned.

"You've gotta be kidding me."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Now this is Ichiraku Ramen, home of the best food in the world!" Naruto cheered as he walked with Musubi and Kusano. The little girl was on his back with her arms wrapped around his neck and his left arm under her for support while Musubi was clutching his right arm and holding it to her chest as he showed them around. After Musubi's innocent, if surprising, question Tsunade had asked if the girl knew what sex was.

When she asked about that as well Tsunade literally slammed her head on her desk while Matsu started laughing hysterically. Tsunade then assigned Musubi to take a sex-education course in a couple weeks and when Kusano said she wanted to know as well the woman said it was only for older people to know. Kusano had pouted at that but with how cute the girl was that had only made Tsunade smile and tell Naruto to show his Sekirei around and go home. She'd want to test his skills but she'd make plans for that tomorrow. In the mean time he could go enjoy himself and seeing as he was hungry and finally back in Konoha, Naruto instantly decided to treat his two girls to what he felt was, as he stated, the best food in the world.

Pushing back the flaps in the entrance Naruto sat down with Kusano getting off his back and taking the seat to the left while Musubi took his right. "Hello, how about some ramen for your favorite customer?" Naruto called out as a head popped out at the strange request before lighting up at seeing who it was.

"Naruto! You're back!" She cheered before sprinting around the counter and hugging the boy, the blond retuning it with a smile.

"It's good to see you Ayame." He said allowing her to pull back and see if she had changed any. She still wore the white clothes and kitchen apron she always had along with having her normal brown hair in a ponytail and a smile on her face.

"You too Naruto." It was then Ayame noticed the girls on either side of Naruto. "Oh? Who are these two Naruto?"

"I'm Sekirei 88, Musubi! Nice to meet you." The busty girl introduced with a small bow and fist pump.

"Ku's Sekirei 108!" The little girl cheered before mirroring Musubi again, something Naruto had begun to notice she had been doing a lot of since joining them.

"Well I'm Ayame Ichiraku." Ayame introduced. She knew what Sekirei were since a couple Shinobi had come in with their own and had talked about them. Plus Tsunade had made an announcement about the apparently super-human race of people that had popped up recently and starting bonding with Shinobi all over the country. "Nice to meet you both." The older girl replied while walking back behind the counter.

"Where's Tuechi?" Naruto asked as Ayame started the oven to cook.

"Dad's in a cooking conference in the capital right now Naruto. He'll be back in a week." She explained before turning and grinning at him. "So I take it you want all the ramen you can eat huh?"

"You bet'cha! I'll start with a Miso." He grinned before turning to Kusano and Musubi. "How about you two?"

"Musubi wants to try a Miso too!" Musubi cheerfully said.

"Ku too!"

"Okay so that's three Miso and please make one child sized." Ayame nodded to herself as she started cooking the ramen. "So why don't you tell me what' you've been up to while it cooks Naruto-kun?" She called out from the kitchen. It was a simple request and Naruto was more than happy to oblige, happy to finally be home and among familiar faces again.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"And this is home." Naruto said as he opened the door to his apartment. The girls walked in after him and looked around to see a somewhat worn down area that was surprisingly clean. Naruto saw a note on his desk and read it, explaining why.

_Your friends have kept the place clean and looked after your plants while you were away brat. I've also had someone stock you up on food, free of charge. See you tomorrow Naruto._

_-Love Tsunade_

"Thanks Granny." The boy muttered as he looked to his kitchen window where he kept his plants. "Hey, Ku come here." Naruto called out getting both the girl and Musubi to walk over. Naruto picked her up and showed her the plants with a grin. "What d'ya say when we get a bigger place we start a garden outside huh?"

"Yeah Big brother!" The little girl squealed at the idea as she squirmed in his arms happily. Naruto chuckled and set her down before turning to Musubi with an apologetic face.

"Sorry Musubi, but I don't really know of something like that we could do together."

"Musubi just wants to be with Naruto." The boy smiled at her answer and wrapped an arm around her shoulder.

"Yeah but I still want to do something nice with you. It's not really fair that only Ku gets something."

"Then can Naruto spar with Musubi again?" The blond nodded with a grin.

"Sure, whenever we've got the time to." He answered before pulling away and walking down the hall with the girls following him. He stepped into his room and sat down on his bed with a sigh as Kusano jumped onto the mattress with a laugh behind him and Musubi sat next to Naruto. "So tomorrow I've gotta show my skills to Granny and then we're gonna look for a new place."

"Yeah!"

"Ku will help too!"

"Great. Then the three of us will find a nice place together." Naruto smiled at his Sekirei, happy they were with him before motioning to his bathroom. "My shower's only big enough for one person at a time so why don't you go first Musubi? Then I'll wash Ku up and take my own."

"Okay Naruto."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"So he really held off an Akatsuki ninja on his own?" Tsunade asked as she set a cup of sake down. She, Jiraiya, Kakashi and Matsu were all sitting at a small bar drinking as they talked.

"Yep." Jiraiya replied with a nod. "I talked to him afterwards and pressed him for details though and it quickly made sense why. The guy just charged in wildly with a three bladed scythe trying to cut them. Naruto and Musubi kept pummeling him into the ground and he'd just get up, curse at them, and charge in again. The guy has some kind of Jutsu that was either making him immune to pain or immune to damage entirely because Naruto literally felt bones break under his hits yet they were ultimately ignored."

"Then how'd they stop him? If this guy's invulnerable he'd have to be impossible to stop for someone with Naruto's skill set." Kakashi asked as Matsu read through the manuscript of ideas for the next Icha Icha, courtesy of Jiraiya. She was barely paying attention to the conversations as she instead had a large blush and perverted grin on her face.

"Naruto managed to land a **Rasengan** on the man to put him down. The pair then were about to go meet up with a clone that was hiding with Kusano when the guy got up and managed to stab Naruto's shoulder. He then drew this symbol on the ground and licked Naruto's blood off his weapon to become a living voodoo doll of the kid." Jiraiya started explaining as he drew the mark on a napkin. "The guy started stabbing himself in non-vital areas and the injuries would appear on Naruto a split-second later. To be honest the kid almost passed out apparently and Musubi was terrified because she didn't know what to do to help. But then the guy made some kind of comment about the girl and he got pissed and began using the Kyuubi's power. He tackled the guy out of the symbol and just started bashing his face in. He even snapped one wrist and cut the other off entirely."

"Wait, but then wouldn't he get the injuries inflicted on himself?" Tsunade cut in and Jiraiya shrugged.

"You'd think but apparently it stopped working once the guy was outside of that symbol. At least that's my guess since Naruto only felt the force of his own tackle hit him before he started wailing on the man. Before Naruto could make a killing blow his partner came in from running from me and blasted him aside with a wind Jutsu before taking him and running away." Jiraiya finished before taking a drink of his sake.

"To be honest I'd place Naruto as a low to mid A-rank in power now. This guy he fought only seems to be S thanks to his invulnerability and voodoo Jutsu he can combine with it. Or maybe he was just holding back because he couldn't kill Naruto, I don't know. Either way, the kid needs to get stronger and fast. If I had more time I think I would've started him on elemental training to add onto his skills."

"I can do that Jiraiya." Kakashi added with a nod so the man shrugged.

"Sure I guess. I'm gonna have to get back to my spying soon anyways so go ahead."

"Where would you place Musubi or Kusano then?" Tsunade asked getting the man to think.

"Well, I don't think Kusano's going to be doing any fighting, first off. She's young, hasn't trained, plus her power seems a bit unstable." He said with a glance to Matsu. "She might be able to tell you why later. Anyways Ku's ability is control over plants, like **Wood Style**. She turned a town into a forest in less than a day and then when Naruto winged her, her powers flared and made every plant within thirty feet grow. With the right training then I believe she could become an S-ranked powerhouse much like your grandfather the Shodai was." Jiraiya said with a look to Tsunade and a grin at seeing her shocked face.

"You're serious? She's able to use **Wood Style**?"

"Well she has something like it. It works on more than trees though and I don't know if it has a suppression effect on the biju or not but that's the only thing to compare it too really." He explained.

"As for Musubi, she's a 'fist-type' so in other words a taijutsu specialist. While she doesn't have any form to her fighting other than swing at the enemy, she makes up for that by having strength on your level Tsunade. And I'm not joking. I had her spar Naruto and one of her punches missed, hit the ground, and split it like you do. I'd say with a tutor to give her an actual style she can easily become an S-ranked taijutsu master on par with you."

"It's like the brat winged girls of my clan." She muttered seeing as how one cold mimic her grandfather's bloodline and the other own physical prowess. Jiraiya and Kakashi chuckled at the joke before Matsu slammed Jiraiya's notebook on the table. Everyone looked at her to see her with a very large grin, red face, and gleaming glasses.

"That. Is. PERFECT!" She cheered while the man jokingly bowed to his audience. "If you'll excuse us, Kakashi-tan and Matsu have things to do…" She started as she grabbed Kakashi's wrist and made to stand up.

"Oh no you don't you pervert." Tsunade cut in, grabbing Kakashi by the shoulder to prevent Matsu from running off with him. "I need him available tomorrow to test Naruto's skills. I can't have you locking him up in a bedroom for three days like when you first got here."

"Three days?!" Jiraiya shouted as Matsu started giggling perversely at the memories. The man turned to Kakashi to see he was red faced, and it was likely not due to the alcohol in his system. "You my good man are very, very blessed." He then turned to the girl who was still giggling madly, lost in her own thoughts on the matter. "Oh Matsu… Can I get some details?"

"Huh?" She stuttered, snapping out of her X rated daydreaming. "What was that Jiraiya-sama?"

"I want details! Between you and the brat I bet I'll have a new masterpiece in no time at all!" He cheered and Matsu started giggling again and was about to speak when a glass ricocheted of Jiraiya's head and into Matsu's.

"Go somewhere else and talk about your damn porn. I don't wanna hear it." Tsunade grumbled. The two pouted at the Hokage but she just ignored them and kept drinking.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

The next morning was definitely a nice, albeit reluctant, wake up call for Naruto. Like always when he first opened his eyes, Musubi was pressed as closely to his side as was humanly possible. His right arm was in between her breasts and she was using his shoulder as her pillow. Not only that but she interlocked their legs as well. The young woman wasn't wearing a shirt to bed last night, only clad in white panties, so Naruto could feel every bit of her soft flesh that she pressed into him. Meanwhile on his left side Kusano had curled into a ball with his left arm wrapped protectively around her. The blond girl had worn one of his old white shirts that were too large on her as her nightwear. Anyone looking at it from outside of the bed would've said one side was incredibly sexy and the other incredibly cute. Sadly Naruto needed to get up and cook breakfast as well as get ready for the day altogether so he couldn't let the moment last.

"Musubi, Ku. It's time to get up." Neither girl so much as twitched in their sleep getting the boy to sigh. He tried maneuvering his right arm out of Musubi's grip but she started clutching it tighter in her sleep while she let out content little moans Naruto found extremely cute. Seeing as that side wasn't working, he gently unwrapped his arm from around Kusano. He had more success with this endeavor until the moment his arm wasn't touching the girl. Seemingly on instinct alone she lashed out and wrapped her arms around his waist, mumbling 'Big brother' at the same time. Naruto knew they all had to get up for the day. He really and truly believed that yet looking at the two girls sleeping with him, he felt like an ass for trying to wake them up. They were just too cute.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"So we're going back to that Granny lady?" Musubi asked as they exited the apartment. Naruto had eventually managed to wake the two up, though was unprepared when Musubi had sleepily kissed him before even saying a good morning or anything. Her wings had lit up the room which made Kusano wake up and the first thing she did when Musubi pulled back was demand a kiss of her own. Not wanting to kiss the far too young girl the same way Naruto pecked her on the forehead and cheeks with small little butterfly kisses getting her to giggle and laugh.

"Yep she said she'd give me a test to see my skills so we're gonna get that done before we go looking for a new place to live." Naruto answered as he knelt down for Kusano to climb up to his back. Musubi nodded with a smile as Ku wrapped her arms around Naruto's neck and he placed his arms under her legs for support. She poked her head over his shoulder as he stood and pointed towards the Hokage Building as she remembered it from yesterday.

"Run Big brother! Run!" She cheered, wanting him to run at high speeds again while Naruto looked over his shoulder at her.

"But what about Musubi?" He asked. "I'm faster than her so she'd be left behind." The girl blinked before pouting at how he shot her down. He bounced her on his back to make her giggle and smile so he grinned. "Don't worry; we can do that later Ku." He told her before turning to Musubi and gesturing with his head to follow. "Well, let's go. Don't want to keep Granny waiting do we?"

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"So you'll be having a test of your skills along with his today."

"Yes Tsunade. I still can't believe I missed that knucklehead yesterday."

"I didn't see him either. I was sure the moment he came back there would be some big commotion caused by him."

"Yeah well he did, just not how you'd expect." Tsunade answered as there was a knocking on her door. "Enter!" When it opened Naruto, with Kusano on his back and Musubi at his side walked in. "Well speak of the devil, morning Naruto."

"Morning Granny." He chirped before ducking under a paperweight. "Hey watch it! Ku's on my back!" He shouted before noticing Tsunade wasn't the only one in the room. Standing to her right was a woman in a dark blue kimono with short black hair holding a pig. Meanwhile standing in front of the desk was a girl with short pink hair and green eyes wearing a red top with a white circle on the back and a tan skirt over dark blue spandex shorts.

"N-Naruto…" The girl stuttered out at seeing him with his Sekirei.

"S-Sakura." He started. Naruto actually wasn't sure what to do. On one hand, he still loved the girl. He still wanted to be with her and wanted her to fall for him. He still planned on fulfilling his promise to her to bring back Sasuke for her. He was still madly in love with her on the other hand though he was bonded with Musubi and Kusano. While one he could treat like a little sister the other wasn't so simple. Musubi claimed she loved him and would freely say it whenever she felt like it. Not only that but in the short time he had known her, Naruto had come to care for her in return. He wasn't sure if he loved her, but he knew he still would be willing to do anything for the brunette.

Both Musubi and Kusano weren't entirely left ignorant of Naruto's internal debate. They both could feel through the bond they had with him that Naruto was having his internal struggle with his feelings the moment he had laid eyes on the pink haired girl. They could tell he cared for her but was also confused about something, what they didn't know. Musubi looked in confusion from Naruto to Sakura and back while Kusano just stared at Naruto. "Naruto? Are you alright?"

The boy snapped out of his thoughts and shook his head before smiling. "Yeah, I'm fine Musubi-chan." He said before kneeling down for Kusano to get off his back, which she did so reluctantly. "Uh, Musubi, Ku; these are Shizune and Sakura." Naruto introduced as he pointed to each in turn.

"Nice to meet you." Shizune replied with a small smile. She figured that this was what Tsunade had meant by saying he had caused a different kind of commotion with his arrival. He was an Ashikabi.

"Uh… hi." Sakura spoke, still in shock at the beautiful woman and little girl with her blond teammate. She first thought was Naruto had somehow had a child with the girl before she realized that the blond girl was too old for that. She then tried to figure out just where the girls were from and just who they were but nothing came to mind.

The little girl may be someone Naruto picked up in his trip as she knew how he always was trying to help everyone so taking in some orphan seemed like something he would do but the busy brunette was a little more difficult to place. She called him Naruto'-sama' and Sakura couldn't think of any reason to call him -sama. "Who… err, who are you?" She asked.

"I'm Sekirei 88, Musubi."

"Kusano's 108!" The two answered before Naruto cut in.

"Yeah, they're with me. I'm their Ashikabi Sakura." He explained getting the girl to nod.

"Oh… okay." She knew how close a Sekirei and Ashikabi were. After all he wasn't the first she had met; there was Kakashi and Matsu for one. So why did she actually feel let down by the news? Wouldn't it be good since Naruto would stop pestering her for dates since he now had someone? She didn't like him in that manner anyways so why? Why did she feel disappointed that he had someone? Why did she actually feel hurt that he seemed to have moved on?

Oblivious to the girl's thoughts Tsunade started talking. "Alright Naruto, once Kakashi gets here we can get this show on the road. You and Sakura here will be battling him so that I can see how far you progressed under Jiraiya and how far she's progress under me."

"You trained under her Sakura?" Naruto cut in so Sakura gave him a small grin.

"You aren't the only one to get training from a Sannin Naruto. I couldn't just sit around and get left behind like that anyways, so I asked Tsunade-sama to teach me when you left." She explained so Naruto grinned and nodded.

"Cool. Then you'll be way stronger than you were."

"Anyways…" Tsunade interrupted; slightly irritated she had been cut off in the first place. "That brings me to my next point. Sakura, Naruto; as of today the two of you are back together as a team." The two nodded so she turned her attention to Musubi and Kusano. "Musubi, if you want you can join our forces to work alongside Naruto as you like. Ku, you're still too young but maybe in the future you can as well." The little girl pouted and made an irritated noise at how she kept being told she was too young while Musubi smiled and pumped her fist.

"Musubi wants to help Naruto-sama!"

"I figured as much." Tsunade grunted before pulling something out of her desk and tossing it to the girl. "Then here, you'll need this." Musubi caught it and the girl looked at it to see it was a headband, however it was slightly different from Naruto's in that it didn't have the spiral leaf in the center. Rather the leaf was towards the right side while on the left was the bird crest on Musubi's back that was proof of her bond with Naruto. "As a Sekirei bonded to a Shinobi of Konoha, you get that for whenever you go out with the brat on missions."

"Oh it's so cool!" Musubi cried before wrapping it around her forehead like Naruto had his. "Well? What do you think Naruto-sama?" She asked and the boy grinned and nodded.

"It looks good on you Musubi-chan." Kusano's pout was even more pronounced now since Musubi got a 'super-cool' headband like her Onii-chan in addition to getting to go with him on the mission things Tsunade mentioned. The little girl got everyone's attention by stomping up to the old woman's desk and looking up over the edge at her, though with her short stature she barely cleared it.

"Ku wants one! Ku wants to go with Onii-chan! Mean old lady can't stop her!" Everyone gaped at the girl before Sakura palmed her face mumbling about how Naruto was a bad influence. Shizune just chuckled nervously because while Ku's actions were extremely cute in her mind, calling Tsunade old was always a bad idea. Musubi just smiled as she thought Ku was in the right. How dare the old lady get between a Sekirei and their Ashikabi! Naruto on the other hand just chuckled nervously and subtly moved behind Musubi. He just knew he was going to get blamed for this somehow.

Tsunade stared down at the girl for a second before leaning closer. "Now Kusano," She started. "You're cute, but that doesn't mean you can get what you want. Missions can be dangerous, and you are too young to go on them, even with Naruto and Musubi there to protect you. So right now, no matter how much you yell and pout, you are not going on missions with him." She finished with a small smile.

"Mean old lady!" Tsunade's eye twitched while she kept up her smile. And people wondered why she never had kids before?

**Well that's the end of this chapter hope you'd enjoyed this.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Flowers with 06, Feelings of Dread with 87**

"The two of you have really improved. I had a really hard time in that fight." Kakashi praised as the group was walking back into the village from the training grounds. Clutching his right arm was Matsu while standing to his left was Sakura. To the other side of the girl was Naruto with his left clutched into Musubi's chest by the girl and his right holds Kusano's hand. Behind them were Tsunade and Jiraiya as the two had smiles on their faces, proud of their disciples' growth. "And again, I'm sorry about your top Musubi." He commented as the girl was once again wearing Naruto's jacket since Kakashi had accidentally destroy her top in the fight against the two powerhouse girls and trickster boy.

He had been aiming to strike Naruto from behind but Musubi noticed him and got in the way, resulting in her normal top to be shredded off. Kakashi had frozen at seeing the girls' nude chest for a second which Sakura and Naruto took advantage of and pounded him. After the fight Matsu had even teased Kakashi about wanting another woman and worrying that she wasn't enough for him. Much to Jiraiya's enjoyment and Tsunade's annoyance.

"Thanks sensei." Naruto chirped before noticing they were coming up to his apartment complex. "Hey Granny, is there anything else you needed us for?" The boy asked as the woman shook her head no. "Okay then me and my Sekirei are gonna go look for a new place to stay after we stop back home for Musubi to replace her shirt." The boy told them before saying his good-byes and walking off, Kusano and Musubi waving back to the group and following.

"Hey Sakura, do you want to have a shift at the hospital later?" Tsunade offered so the girl nodded and said her own goodbyes before leaving to get cleaned up before heading to work. The four adults started walking back to the Hokage Tower as Tsunade started talking. "Alright, from what I've seen I agree with you pervert on labeling Naruto as a low to mid A rank in power. I'd place Sakura as a high B to low A and I'd rank Musubi on the same level." She started as Kakashi nodded his agreement. "I'll give Naruto a few complacency tests later and then after a few missions I can just promote him to chunin so he can be like the rest of his friends. Plus having that kind of talent restricted to genin rank is a waste."

"Oh yeah, how are the kids friends all ranked right now?" Jiraiya asked as Sakura had told them about her chunin ranking but never mentioned the rest of their friends.

"Neji Hyuuga is a jonin while the rest are all chunin." Kakashi answered as Matsu pushed her glasses up slightly.

"And six of them are Ashikabi right now. Currently Konoha has eight Ashikabi, counting Kakashi and Naruto. But at the same time we have ten Sekirei since Naruto has two as well as another Ashikabi." The red head explained as Jiraiya nodded his understanding.

"I had to make that law about Sekirei because one of them kept attacking the others every chance she got. It was getting annoying to have my Anbu jump in to separate them every few days. She only tried to attack them just once after I made the law before I threatened to tie her up and let Matsu deactivate her before she quit." Tsunade explained as Jiraiya chuckled while Matsu pouted.

"It's not funny! That girl is a damn menace to Matsu! She kept chasing Matsu all over the city trying to beat Matsu up!" The woman childishly whined while Kakashi and Jiraiya chuckled.

"I thought of it as divine payback for all your perverted habits." Tsunade commented as the woman huffed and started pulling Kakashi away, not willing to take all the laughter at her expense if she didn't have to. The two Sannin just laughed as the man found himself being dragged away by a woman technically not even strong enough to lift half the man's weight not that the man was fighting her silent demands. Matsu was really easy to cheer up, and he loved to keep her happy anyways. Usually because the easiest way to make her happy made him just as happy.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"It's great that we've got a new place to stay Naruto." Musubi commented as they left a small house nearby the Hokage mansion. It had only taken a few hours to find a place that was both in Naruto's price range and was willing to let him move in right away. The main reason it was so easy was because of the 'for sale' sign he had seen as they had gone past it earlier that morning to see Tsunade before the test. Afterwards it was the first place he tried since it had looked big enough. After being granted a tour he had instantly wanted it.

The house was a small one in that it only had two bedrooms, a kitchen, one bathroom and a living room but it was perfect for what Naruto was looking for. It also had a small backyard, not much for any sort of training or major party, but enough that he could relax outside or make that garden he had promised Kusano.

"I know right? And we can move in tomorrow too." The blond responded as Kusano was on his back, struggling to stay awake. All the excitement of cheering for her Big brother and 'Musubi' as they fought followed by looking through the new place had exhausted the young Sekirei. Something Naruto noticed as he glanced at her. "Are ya tired Ku?" He asked as the girl shook her head.

"No! Ku's fine. She just-" The girl was betrayed as she stopped to yawn and Naruto chuckled.

"Don't worry Ku. We're just heading back to the apartment anyways. Tomorrow we're moving into that nice house and once we have everything we need, you and I can start that garden okay?" The girl smiled as she began to close her eyes.

"Love you… Big brother." She mumbled as Musubi smiled next to Naruto as they walked back to the apartment for what would be the last time.

"Hey Musubi, ya mind helping me pack up everything for tomorrow? It won't take long thanks to sealing scrolls, I just wanna get it all done as so that tomorrow we can just move in and set it all up." Naruto asked as the girl nodded. "Oh, and we're going to need to go shopping for some stuff too like another bed and some dressers and stuff for the other room."

"Okay Naruto!" Musubi cheered before putting a hand to her chin. "Um… Naruto? Why did we need a place with two bedrooms anyways?" She asked and the boy glanced at her with a raised brow as she elaborated. "Is the extra room for guests?"

"I… I thought that would've been obvious." The boy deadpanned as she shook her head. Apparently it wasn't as the busty brunette didn't understand.

"Well Naruto, Musubi and Ku will all have one room so Musubi was wondering what the other one is for." She commented and had Naruto not been carrying Kusano he would have face palmed.

"It's for Kusano." He explained. "It's not really right to be sleeping with little kids every night." The blond explained as she tilted her head to the side. "Just… just take my word for it Musubi. We'll share the main room while Kusano will get the other one to herself." The girl still looked confused but nodded to her Ashikabi's words. If he was sure about it then she wouldn't argue. Meanwhile Naruto was inwardly sighing in relief that she just accepted it.

Unless he started explaining sex to the girl then she wouldn't see why it appeared wrong for two teens to share a bed with an adolescent. He hadn't raised a fuss about it the past few nights because there hadn't been an alternative place for Kusano to sleep. Plus the boy wasn't sure if she'd get it even after explaining sex to her. Personally he was just happy he didn't have to explain it at all since she'd be going to a class about it that Tsunade set up for her.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"You know, you never told me just who the Akatsuki members you faced were." Tsunade stated as she finished off the last bit of paperwork for the day. Jiraiya was looking out the window over the village as he thought about what Naruto had told him about his opponent as well as his own battle. The man had left the Akatsuki's identities out of their conversation in case they were over heard.

"Naruto's opponent had silver hair, wore a necklace with that symbol I drew out yesterday on it and carried a three bladed scythe. Apparently he had a headband for Yugakure on as well. I looked through the Bingo Book and came up with only one name, the only missing ninja from Yu as well as the only S-rank they've ever had. His name is Hidan. He left the village because he was pissed about how the Shinobi there were being downgraded from ninja to just regular police as Yu shifted from a Shinobi village to a resort one. Not only that, but before he left he had been getting into this rather violent religion called Jashinism. He's wanted because right before he left he gathered two hundred civilians, mostly council members of Yugakure and their families, and killed them all in a ritual for his newfound god. The guy's full abilities are unknown as prior to the ritual he was only known for being a physically strong but low ranked jonin. I'd guess it's whatever that ritual was that gave him that voodoo Jutsu and immunity of his." Jiraiya explained as Tsunade flipped through a Bingo Book she kept in her desk for his profile. Upon finding it she added it to the small list she had made of known Akatsuki members, the only other names being Kisame Hoshigaki Kisame and Itachi Uchiha. Orochimaru's name was under the list with 'former' written next to it.

"Alright so Naruto faced a religious nutcase from a minor village. What about you though?" She asked as Jiraiya walked over to the desk and took the Bingo Book and began to flip through it. "Jiraiya who did you fight?" She asked again as the man gestured for her to wait.

"You won't believe me if I just flat out say it so I'm looking for his bounty." The woman shook her head but waited patiently by pouring herself a glass of sake while he looked. A minute later and he sighed as he handed her the book back. "The one on the left that's who I fought." The woman looked down at the book and narrowed her eyes as she looked at the profile of Kakuzu from the Village Hidden by a Waterfall, the oldest bounty to still be active.

"Jiraiya, this bounty is over eighty years old. That man would be dead by now." He nodded his agreement but still gestured to the page.

"I know, but he introduced himself as Kakuzu of Taki and even claimed to have fought your grandfather. I'm guessing he's used his Jutsu to extend his life."

"You mean this **'Earth Grudge Fear'** he reportedly stole before fleeing his village?" She asked as she looked at his list of skills from the old page. It only listed him as a jonin with a high level of skill in water Jutsu as well as an exceedingly sharp mind. He was wanted for stealing Taki's sacred kinjutsu, the,** 'Earth Grudge Fear'** before he fled the village in the wake of his failure to kill her grandfather, the Shodai Hokage.

"The Jutsu filled his body with these weird black threads and he used them to extend his limbs for his taijutsu. He also apparently used it to steal the hearts of others. I'm willing to bet he did that with every organ that started to die on him."

"Stealing organs to use as his own?!" The woman shouted in shock and surprise. As a medic she was both appalled by the lack of respect for another human's life and well being and morbidly curious as to the full mechanics on how such a Jutsu would work. If he could take the hearts of others to use then could it be used in the reverse for him to do perfect organ transplants on patients that needed them? The woman shook the thoughts from her head as Jiraiya continued.

"Yep and here's the kicker. The hearts he stole? He gained the elemental affinity for that heart. In our fight he used four out of five elements, sometimes in combination with each other. At first he was sticking to mostly taijutsu while using an Earth Style to harden his skin to impossible levels. But once I landed a clean kill shot with the **Rasengan** he stopped using it, switching to long range tactics and claiming I had killed his earth heart. Then I summoned out a couple toads to use a reflective barrier and took out three more with a couple shots. He ran since it became clear he was no match for me as I rushed to find Naruto. When he charged Naruto to save Hidan and flee, the boy said he was hit with a wind technique meaning that was the only heart Kakuzu had left."

"Then he should be easier to take down when you encounter him again." Tsunade said, expecting Kakuzu to be pretty weak now and ripe for defeat when he was encountered again. The man however shook his head.

"I wouldn't count on it. I'm willing to bet my entire life's earnings from my books that he has or will be stealing some more hearts to replace the four I took out. And since each heart has to be destroyed to finish him off for good, you essentially have to kill him multiple times to put him down. The only good thing is that he gets easier to beat with each kill shot. However there aren't that many skilled enough to kill him in the first place if he's at full power so we still have to be careful." Jiraiya explained so the woman sighed but nodded as she wrote down his information to the list of Akatsuki members.

"You know, Taki has a jinchuriki. Whether Akatsuki has gotten to them or not, it would still be good to inform them about them. They may provide some help against the group or at the very least they might be willing to share some more of the inner workings of that Jutsu Kakuzu stole." Tsunade mused as the man across from her nodded.

"Got it. I'll swing by the village when I head out tomorrow. I'll also make sure to keep digging up info on Sekirei and M.B.I. while I'm at it. I'm sure Matsu's told you a lot but I doubt she's told you everything or even knows everything to tell." At this Tsunade looked down and shook her head.

"Jiraiya, there's a few things about Sekirei and M.B.I. you should probably know." She started as the man narrowed his eyes. Her tone said he wouldn't like some of this info. "As number 02, Matsu was literally the second Sekirei born. As such, she's been there from the beginning, she knows just about everything about Sekirei and M.B.I. except M.B.I.'s endgame with this Sekirei Plan. A few of M.B.I.'s secrets…" She hesitated for a second before taking a drink of her sake and deciding to get it over with. A few hours later and an angry Jiraiya would be seen leaving the Hokage's Tower.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Welcome to Yamanaka Flowers, how can I-Naruto?!" A girl with long blond hair done up in a ponytail with a large bang covering one eye shouted as the blond walked into the flower shop with his Sekirei. Naruto grinned as he walked up to the counter to chat with his classmate while Musubi and Kusano looked around at all the plants.

"Hey Ino! How's it going?" He asked as the girl stepped out from behind the counter to size the boy up. At the same time he looked her over to see how she had changed over the years. Whereas before Ino was essentially a twig with all her dieting, the girl now had an actual figure from both eating healthy and training. She still seemed to favor purple though as she wore a purple skirt over some mesh shorts and a sleeveless purple top.

"Wow Naruto, you've grown! I don't think you're our class runt anymore." She joked as the boy pouted. Her first comment when she sees him again and she has to make fun of him? Well two could play this game.

"Low blow Ino. Besides, who used to diet to the point you'd need bandages to hide your ribs?" He shot back as the girl blushed and took her spot behind the counter again. She gave him a small glare that he grinned in return to.

"That was a long time ago!" She growled as the boy chuckled. The girl was soon to follow his lead and laughed herself as she relaxed her head on her palm as she leaned on the counter. "So, how long have you been back? Seen forehead yet?" She asked in rapid-fire.

"Three days, and I met up with Sakura yesterday since Granny wanted to test my skills and had me and her face Kakashi-sensei." Ino snorted at his name for the Hokage as he went into a quick tale about their fight against his sensei and she looked confused.

"Wait a minute, who's this Musubi you keep mentioning?" She interrupted so Naruto blinked before he face palmed.

"Oh, right. I forgot you haven't met them yet." He muttered before turning around. "Hey Musubi! Ku! Come here, I want you to meet someone!" He called out and Ino noticed the two girls that had been looking through the flowers perked up and headed over. Ino's eyes widened when they came over so Naruto introduced them. "Ino, these two are Musubi and Kusano, my Sekirei." He introduced as Musubi smiled and gave a small bow.

"I'm Sekirei 88 Musubi. Nice to meet you." She chirped as Kusano was lifted onto the counter by Naruto and the girl grinned.

"Ku's 108! Hi!" Ino looked from girl to girl before looking back to Naruto.

"Two Sekirei? Not bad Naruto but you're not the only one with two Sekirei." She said as she saw the boy had a surprised look on his face.

"What someone else has two Sekirei as well, who?" Naruto asked.

Ino just giggled and nodded. "Yup there is but I think I should let you figure that out on your own. But did you know Kakashi has one?

"Yeah, that perverted red head Matsu. We met her yesterday when Kakashi-sensei caught us in the village." Ino giggled at his accurate description of the second Sekirei before the door opened and their attention was drawn to the newcomer.

"I finished that delivery Ino so unless there's something else I'm done for the day." He spoke up before seeing the three near the girl. "Oh, you're with customers."

"Nope, friends! Come on over and say hello!" Ino corrected as he walked up. The man had short and somewhat messy white hair and was wearing a white button up shirt with black pants and a black trench coat over it. Naruto noticed that he had a mask similar to Kakashi's but that it was pulled down so it only looked like a turtle neck at the moment. He also saw that around his forehead was a headband just like Musubi's, marking him as a Sekirei partnered to a Konoha Shinobi. "Guys, meet my Sekirei." Ino pointed out with a grin at Naruto's surprised face.

"Hello. My name's Homura I'm Sekirei 06." He introduced as Naruto shook his hand.

"Name's Naruto Uzumaki. I'm a classmate of Ino's and Ashikabi to these two next to me." Naruto replied with a smile a Musubi and Kusano introduced themselves to the single digit.

"Nice to meet you three." He spoke before stepping behind the counter and standing next to Ino, the blond girl grinning the entire time. Naruto looked at her and then to Homura and asked how the two met, a story Ino was all too willing to tell.

"Oh it was a mission a few weeks ago. There was apparently a few bandits preying on a small town and I was part of the team that went to go deal with them all. When we got there we found that most of the bandits had been burnt to a crisp and Homura here yelling at them to stop picking on the innocent. Afterwards he collapsed from exhaustion and some burns of his own so we went to help him since he had technically did our mission for us. I've trained a little under Tsunade like forehead has so I offered to heal him up. I was placed in charge of him while my teammates got rid of the corpses as well as tracking down any that escaped. I fixed Homura up and we just started talking and one thing led to another before we kissed. Next thing I know he has the beautiful wings of fire coming out of his back and I'm being told I'm his Ashikabi and that he'll protect me with his life." Ino sighed in remembrance at this point as she glanced to see Homura blushing slightly. "It's all been getting better from there too. He came back to Konoha with us and Tsunade recognized him as my Sekirei and gave him that special headband while I told daddy about him and got him set up with my family. Homura's been the perfect gentleman in that he helps me with whatever I need and even around the shop. Plus he's hot, so he's got the looks down pat too." Ino added as Homura blushed brighter and Naruto shook his head in some amusement.

"So how'd you meet these two?" The girl asked, mentally begging for some gossip material to chat about.

"Musubi literally landed on top of me a little over a week ago while she was running from this other Sekirei with a scythe and I helped her out a little. We went and had lunch together and talked a bit before the other Sekirei came back and tried attacking her again but I interfered because I don't like it when people attack my friends. Together we beat her and then she kissed me and started traveling with me and Ero-Sensei." Naruto explained with a nod to the brunette who nodded at his words.

Ino let out a giggle again at how Naruto was referring to his superiors while the boy then turned his attention to the girl sitting on the counter next to him. "As for Ku, she appeared in a dream a few days ago asking for help so we searched her out and rescued her from these guys that were trying to catch her. Then that night while waiting for dinner she sort of shoved her lips to mine and stole a kiss, but I don't really mind I guess. Ku's a good girl and if I didn't wing her then she may have been at risk and stuff."

"Thank you for that." Homura cut in and Naruto glanced at him. "Before I was winged by Ino here I traveled around doing my best to protect the unwinged Sekirei so that they could find their Ashikabi's. I haven't been able to do it as much since I'm within the village but it's been my hope that the other Sekirei can find their Ashikabi's quickly and without trouble. That obviously hasn't happened but it seems some still have protection and are reaching their Ashikabi's. So thank you for protecting her. There's no crueler fate for a Sekirei than to never be with the Ashikabi they're meant to have." He explained as Musubi nodded in agreement with his words and Naruto smiled.

"It's not a problem. Even if she wasn't reacting to me I would've helped as soon as I found out. It's not right to be forced into something you don't want." He replied, a slight frown threatening to appear as his thoughts glossed over Kyuubi. "Anyways, as nice as it's been meeting you and catching up with Ino, that's not why we originally came here." Naruto admitted as he shook his head and remembered why they had originally shown up. "We came here to get some supplies to start a garden."

"You garden Naruto?" Ino asked with some slight surprise. The boy nodded with a grin.

"Yep! I've been taking care of a few plants in my apartment for years, but I never had the room for a real garden before. Since I'm with these two now, I left my old apartment and we all got this new place closer to the Hokage's mansion and there's a small backyard so I wanted to start a garden." He explained. "And that's not all. Do you have a couple seeds Ino?" The girl narrowed her eyes in some confusion but nodded. "Put them in a cup with some dirt, I'll pay for it all." Ino did as he said before setting it on the counter as Naruto gestured to Kusano. "Alright Ku show Ino what you can do."

"Okay Big Brother!" The girl cried happily as she picked the cup up and focused on the seeds within, the cup glowed slightly green in her hands as a small bouquet of daisies sprouted and grew into fully mature and blooming flowers, Homura's eyes widening as Ino gasped with a smile. "Ku made the flowers grow!" She cheered as Ino looked at the flowers and then to the little girl.

"You can control plants." She gasped as Ku and Naruto nodded. Ino smiled before ruffling the little girl's hair slightly. "Tell ya what, you can keep those alright? No charge. Pretty flowers for a pretty girl."

"Thank you!" Naruto chuckled as Kusano hugged the cup and its flowers to her chest as the Yamanaka turned to him.

"I guess we better grab the supplies for you huh? And I hope you don't just use her power for everything Naruto. There's no fun in gardening if you cheat like that." She asked as Naruto grinned. With Ino's help Naruto was able to get everything he needed and after paying for it he sealed the supplied all into a scroll for easy carrying. "Say Naruto…" She started as he was about to leave. "How about I get everyone together and we all have a welcome back party at your new place? Say… this Saturday in three days?" Ino offered as the boy thought it over before grinning.

"Sure! That'll make it easier to catch up with everybody!" He agreed before writing down his new address and then grabbing one of Ku's hands as the girl held her flower cup in the other while Musubi grabbed his free hand. "See ya later Ino!" He called out as they left the store. Ino turned to Homura and pecked him on the cheek quickly before leaning back on the counter, the man getting a slight blush from her actions.

"So what d'ya think of Naruto?" She asked as the man shrugged and brought his blush under control.

"He seems alright. As long as he makes sure to treat his Sekirei with respect and care I think I'll get along fine with him. Why?" He asked as Ino glanced over her shoulder as if to check if he was really gone before giving him a sad smile.

"There's sort of a love triangle going on around him. Ya see, he loves Sakura, but Sakura loves Sasuke. But now that he has Musubi, I'm wondering how things are going to work out with that relationship. And that's not even adding Hinata to the mix." Ino explained as she began to enter her 'gossip mode'.

"Your friend from the Hyuuga clan? How does she mix into this?" He asked as Homura didn't grow up in Konoha like she did so he wouldn't know the entire story. Ino held up a hand and waved it around slightly as she started to tell him everything.

"Well… Hinata's been in love with Naruto for as long as anyone can remember and it seems the only person in the entire village that hasn't noticed by now is Naruto himself. She used to follow him around a lot in secret when we were all in school and she'd constantly stutter and blush around him yet he never knew why and just thought she was a little weird. She never had the courage to tell him or even talk to him so he just dismissed her as someone he didn't need to worry about as he kept chasing Sakura. It wasn't until our first Chunin Exams he even seemed to pay attention to the fact she exists because of her fight with Neji. He even vowed to beat the boy after he nearly killed Hinata."

She paused when Homura scowled. "Neji was something of a jerk back then but he's changed now." She added quickly to make sure her Sekirei didn't get the wrong idea before going back to her story.

"When the finals swung around, Naruto gave it everything he had and beat Neji even though everyone expected him to lose. It was actually the talk of the village for a little bit since he went on to beat Gaara right after the people who knew the full story of the paramilitaries even though it was kind of romantic. Anyways, Hinata's loved him since forever and Naruto's been totally clueless about it while he's in love with Sakura. And now he has Musubi since Kusano seems to have a sibling thing going on with him, which is nice because it'd be really weird and gross if he actually liked the girl the other way." Ino thought with a slight shiver.

"But like I was saying, he has Musubi now so I'm wondering if he still loves Sakura and how Hinata will react when she finds out he has a beautiful brunette pretty much hanging off his arm." The girl finished as Homura shrugged. He didn't know and he honestly didn't care much for gossip anyways. He just listened to give Ino someone to talk to and indulge his Ashikabi in something she enjoyed. It wasn't like the girl really expected him to answer; he had come to learn that about her.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"The jinchuriki to the One tail made Kazekage, can you believe it?" A man commented as his partner scoffed.

"The former Third tail jinchuriki made Mizukage. It's not that hard to believe." He replied. Perhaps if you weren't so busy looking at things for only three seconds and calling it art you'd understand that."

"Hey! True art is that small glimpse of light and smoke before vanishing forever. Art is an explosion!" The man responded, his blond hair showing underneath the straw hat he wore. The rest of his features were hidden behind the black cloak with red clouds he wore. Next to him was a hunched over figure in a similar cloak and hat, the small portion of his face to be seen being covered by a black cloth.

"That is not art. True art lasts forever, is eternal." He growled. "You'd best learn that Deidara." He ordered before getting back to their focus as they trudged through the desert. "Do you have enough clay for this mission? As both a jinchuriki and a Kage the One tail will not go down easily." He warned as his partner patted the pouch at his hip.

"I brought enough, don't worry. I'll get my target real quick Sasori my man. I'll make sure he learns what art truly is before he's defeated hm." Deidara boasted as the hunched over ex-Suna Nin scoffed.

"You have to know what art is before you can teach it to others you fool." Deidara rolled his eyes as his partner refused to accept what he felt was the true path of art, just as he refused to embrace Sasori's views on the subject. Such was the trouble between them. They were such great partners when it came to combat but outside of it, they did nothing but argue over art.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

A red headed teen wearing a red outfit and the kanji for 'Love' on his forehead sighed as he looked over the latest reports of his village. Suna had recovered admirably from the weakness they had been at only a couple years ago thanks to their Daimyo cutting their funding. However thanks to Konoha's assistance they had bounced back to the thriving village they were today. The teen frowned when his office door was opened and his secretary came in with more paperwork. "Here's the last of today's documents Kazekage." She told him before gathering what he had finished and taking it out. The boy rubbed the bridge of his nose before going back to his work. While he was an insomniac thanks to the biju within him, Gaara still didn't like being forced to work into the late nights. Being unable to sleep didn't mean a rest period; his rest was simply different from the normal persons.

As Gaara worked on the paperwork his door was opened again and a hand poked in holding a small bag, a bag with a delicious smelling food if his nose was correct. "I brought you some food." A head poked in above the bag with a small smile. "Are you feeling hungry Gaara?" The red head gave the woman a small smile as he nodded and she came in. The woman was tall with long brown hair styled into a ponytail as she wore red hakama pants and a white kimono top. She set the bag down in front of Gaara on an empty spot of his desk before walking around it to lean against it next to Gaara. "Long night?"

"Nothing I cannot manage Kaho." He replied as she glanced out the window at the setting sun. The boy looked at her for a moment before setting down his pen and stopping his work. "You are worried." Gaara noticed as she flinched and looked down at him slightly surprised.

"You noticed?"

"Yes. You've only really stared out the window when with me when something was on your mind. Otherwise I was usually the focus of your attention. The bond between us also alerted me to some of your thoughts." The Kage told her as she smiled slightly. "What is bothering you Kaho?" The girl bit her lip for a moment before shaking her head.

"It's nothing. You just get your work done and I'll-" The Sekirei stopped as Gaara grabbed her hand in his left and stood up to cup her face with his right.

"I know that it's not, nothing. I don't need the bond as your Ashikabi to tell me that. Something is troubling you. As you are my Sekirei it is my duty to watch over you just as it is my duty as the Kazekage to look after the village." Gaara told her as she looked down. "We have only been bonded for three weeks Kaho but that is enough time for me to have come to care about you. What is wrong?"

"I… I don't know." She admitted as she shook her head. "I just can't help but shake the feeling that something terrible is about to happen and that you're in the center of it." She explained as the boy frowned. "I've been having this feeling for a couple days now and at first I brushed it off but when it stayed I got worried. When I learned earlier today about how you'll have that Akatsuki group after you it just grew worse." Gaara let go of Kaho's face and hand to wrap her in a hug as she wrapped her own arms around him. "I don't want to lose my Ashikabi after only having him for a few little weeks."

"You won't. I can promise you Kaho that nothing will happen to me. We've upped our patrols to ensure the village remains safe and I have been training extensively to protect myself and my home. Nothing shall happen." He told her as he pulled back and kissed her lightly. Her wings flared out for a second before vanishing as she smiled. "Now promise me you will not worry about this."

"I'll try." Gaara gave her a small smile before he sat back down and picked up his pen. However before he could do anything with it Kaho took it out of his hands. When he looked back up to her she dropped the bag in his hands. "I didn't bring you some food just for you to ignore it Gaara." The Kage just chuckled lightly before opening the bag to eat.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

**Another edited chapter and just a couple more to go before I continue with my original chapter, hope you enjoyed this chapter.**

**See ya!**


	6. Chapter 6

**Assault on Suna! 87's Fears Made Reality**

"I see my servant remembers his master."

"Yes Sasori." A Hidden Sand jonin replied as he knelt before the hunched over Akatsuki member. Next to him Deidara grunted before throwing out a clay bird and making a hand seal so it expanded to become large enough for someone to ride on.

"You can play with your pet hm. I'll go get the Jinchuriki." The man called out as he leapt onto his creation.

"Don't make me wait Deidara. We have a schedule to keep." He replied as the blond scoffed but said nothing as his bird flapped its wings to take off into the air. As Deidara flew into the village Sasori turned to his spy. "Is there anything about the One tail Jinchuriki theAkatsuki doesn't know?" He asked as the man kept his head down.

"The Kazekage has acquired a Sekirei for himself three weeks ago." He offered. "She is a brunette with a white top and red hakama. She is a weapon-type and has a masterful usage of a naginata." Sasori grunted to himself as he thought of the new development.

"A Sekirei huh? According to Kakuzu the Nine tail Jinchuriki has one as well, possibly two if the man's' assumption is to prove correct." He muttered before a thought passed through his head. "I wonder what a Sekirei puppet could bring…"

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"There! We're all set!" Naruto cheered as he and Musubi finished placing a table in the kitchen. Kusano pushed a chair in before the blond and brunette grabbed another and each placed them at the table themselves. "It took a few hours but now our house is completely furnished." The blond boy grinned while Musubi attached herself to his side.

"It's great Naruto!" She cheered as she hugged the boy's left side into her chest, making him blush. Not to be left out Kusano clutched onto the boy's right and hugged it close, though since she was still a child it didn't have much of an effect at all. "So how about Musubi makes dinner tonight to celebrate?" She offered as the boy grinned.

"Sure thing Musubi." He chirped as she hugged him before turning around and getting supplies out to start making her special curry. Kusano looked from Musubi to Naruto before tugging on the boy's hand. "Hm? You need something Ku?"

"Ku wants to help Mu!" The boy smiled glancing at Musubi and seeing that she hadn't heard the younger girl's request.

"Well why are you asking me then? Ask her if you can help."

"Okay Big brother!" The girl cheered before letting him go and running over to Musubi and tugging on her skirt slightly. Musubi turned and looked down at the girl as she raised her arms and smiled. "Ku wants to help!" The busty girl smiled before nodding and started giving the girl something to do while Naruto took a seat at the table to watch. However he quickly got up when he heard someone knocking on his door. The boy told his Sekirei he'd get it so they stayed in the kitchen as he went down the hall and opened the door.

"Hey Naruto."

"Kakashi-Sensei ! Matsu! What's up?" The boy grinned as his Sensei was standing outside the door with his Sekirei leaning on his right.

"Well I figured I'd come over and see the new place and Matsu wanted to come with so here we are." The man answered as Naruto let them in. He led them back to the kitchen. "Hi Musubi, Kusano." The man called out as they entered and they turned to see who it was and smiled. "What's going on here?" He asked as the three took seats at the table and Musubi pumped her fists into the air.

"Musubi's making dinner!"

"Ku's helping!" The green girl added, mimicking the brunette's gesture as Kakashi chuckled and Naruto smiled.

"Okay then. Mind if we stay over then?" He asked as Naruto shrugged.

"I don't mind."

"Musubi will make more then!" The girl cheered as Matsu huffed in her seat.

"Even Musubi can cook. That's not fair…" She muttered as Kakashi chuckled. The man patted his Sekirei on the back sympathetically as Naruto chuckled.

"She can't cook?" He asked as Matsu pouted and Kakashi nodded.

"Tried using the stove and lit her hair on fire." The man admitted as Naruto laughed. Matsu started mumbling about the unfairness and how it wasn't funny under her breath while Kakashi let out a couple chuckles of his own. "Anyways, there was another reason we stopped by." The man started so the blond started to pay attention to his Sensei. "Jiraiya is leaving tonight to go back out for his spy network. As such you're back under my command for training." The man explained as the boy nodded.

"Okay. Just wish Ero-Sensei could've at least said good bye before he left." The blond mused as Kakashi shrugged.

"Well he supposedly got a tip from Tsunade about something so he wants to check it out." He offered as Naruto shrugged. "Anyways, Jiraiya told me what you did with him and told me what he would've started if he had time so I'm going to follow his plan. The next thing you'll be working on will be elemental manipulation."

"You mean like throwing out fireballs and lightning bolts and that sort of stuff?" The boy asked so the man nodded and handed him a small slip of paper while pulling out another for himself.

"If that's your element then yes, that paper is a chakra reactive special paper grown with chakra. As a result, when chakra is pushed into it, it will react and reveal your natural element." The man explained before pushing chakra into his paper for the small square to glow and then wrinkle up into a ball around his thumb. "My natural element is lightning."

"But I've seen you use earth and water Justus before." Naruto interrupted so the man nodded.

"Correct. That shows it's not impossible to learn Jutsu of other elements. It's just that whatever your natural affinity is becomes the easiest element for you to learn. Since I'm lightning, lightning Jutsu are extremely easy for me. I'll have to work harder to learn Jutsu of other elements. Or at least normally I would. The Sharingan helps me overcome that part. You however, don't have any fancy Visual Jutsuso you'll have to work hard if you want a Jutsu outside of your natural element." The man told him before gesturing to the paper. "Now channel some chakra into the paper I gave you. If it burns up then you're a fire element if it gets wet then that means water while crumpling up like mine means lightning. If it turns to dust then you're earth and if it's cut in half then you're wind." Kakashi explained so Naruto was about to do so before something came to mind.

"Wait, what about the other elements? Like Haku's ice." He asked as Kakashi thought back for a moment before nodding.

"Ah, right. First off those are bloodlines so they follow special rules." The blond nodded as his Sensei continued. "What you're referring to are called sub-elements because they aren't one of the base five. Rather, each sub-element is actually a combination of two or more elements. For example the ice Jutsu you brought up. Ice is formed by mixing water and wind chakra together. People with elemental bloodlines like that don't have one natural affinity but rather they have two instead. There are also people with something called a Kekkei genkai which gives them three elements instead of one or two. The current Tsuchikage of the Hidden Stone Village is known for his Kekkei genkai."

"So say I have fire. If I trained really hard with earth too would I be able to combine them for a special element like the bloodline clans?" Naruto asked as Kakashi shook his head.

"No. The bloodline elements are coveted so much because they are the only ones capable of them. If anyone could make sub-elements with enough training then people wouldn't bother classifying them as a bloodline. Let's use your fire and earth as an example. That makes the known sub-element of lava. However, if you don't have the bloodline then trying to mix the two will just result in flaming rocks and the like instead of the actual molten earth of the lava element." Kakashi shot down before gesturing to the paper. "Before we go on, why don't you see." what element you do have so we know what we're dealing with hm?" The man suggested so Naruto nodded and channeled chakra into his paper.

The square parchment glowed for a second before slicing itself in half. "I'm wind then." Naruto mused as Kakashi nodded.

"That's a good and a bad thing Naruto." The man started so the blond looked to him. "First off, wind is a very powerful and unpredictable element, much like you as a Shinobi so in a way it fits you perfectly." The blond grinned at that so Kakashi went over what wind can do. "Wind is capable of causing massive gusts to blow targets away or enhance your thrown weapons to increase their speed and penetration. Not only that but you could cause twisters and tornados or defensive walls of air with the right Jutsu and training. Among the five elements, wind is called the 'cutting' element because channeling it through your weapons will make them capable of cutting through just about anything you can think of. It's a very powerful element and is considered the best for close to mid-range combat, which is how you fight so again, it's a perfect fit for you."

"Then what's so bad about me being wind?" Naruto asked as so far Kakashi had said nothing but good for his affinity. This time, Matsu cut in as she knew this from her own studies on Shinobi that she had started after being winged by Kakashi.

"Because wind is rare Naruto." She cut in. "Wind is the rarest of the five elements so there aren't many people who can help you train it to its full potential. Even Sunagakure, the Shinobi village of Land of Wind, a village renowned for their great wind users has trouble producing them. It's bad because Kakashi-tan can only give you the basics and a couple Jutsu he copied over the years but he can't help you refine it to a mastered level." The man nodded along with his Sekirei so Naruto slumped slightly in his chair.

"So what do I do then?"

"Well, just because I'm a lightning element with only a basic knowledge of wind doesn't mean I can' help. Also, Konoha does have another wind user you know."

"Really?

"Yep, Asuma Sarutobi. You'd know him better as that smoking jonin that is theSensei to Shikamaru, Ino and Choji." The man told him so Naruto grinned and vowed to find Asuma and ask him for help tomorrow. "Now, there's one last thing about elements to go over Naruto and that's their strengths and weaknesses. Every element of the base five is strong against one and weak against another. Your wind will beat my lightning, just as my lightning beats earth. Earth will trump water and water puts out fire. Fire however will defeat wind."

"So if I used a tornado against you…" Naruto trailed off as Kakashi nodded.

"I could counter and turn it against you by launching a fireball into it at you." The man finished. "Now that doesn't mean that you can't use fire and wind together, just never use them against each other because the fire will always win. Say I launched a fireball at an enemy. You could then use your wind Jutsu to enhance my fireball and make the attack exponentially stronger. That's called a collaborationJutsu."

"So I guess I really am the perfect guy to go up with Sasuke." The blond mused as Kakashi nodded.

"Yep. Your wind will trump his lightning every time." The man mused so Naruto shook his head.

"No, I meant as a teammate. I can use my wind to enhance his fire." Kakashi slowly nodded as that occurred to him.

"I guess you could say you're his perfect partner and opponent since you can cut off half his attacks and aid the other." The man admitted as Naruto nodded his head. It was then that Kusano suddenly hopped to the table with a stack of plates.

"Time to eat Big brother!" The girl cheered as Naruto chuckled and looked over to see Musubi carrying a large pot. As Kusano set the plates for everybody the busty brunette set the pot at the center of the table before pulling off the lid.

"Musubi made her special curry! I hope Naruto likes it!" The blond looked over the pot and took a whiff before grinning as Musubi grabbed a spoon to dish the food out.

"It smells great Musubi!" The boy chirped as Kakashi and Matsu nodded in agreement. As the food was distributed the blond grinned. "Thanks for the meal!" He chirped before taking a bite. The girl waited for a moment before boy grinned. "This is great Musubi!" He praised as she smiled.

"Musubi's happy Naruto likes it!" The girl replied. "Musubi and Ku worked really hard on it." The small green girl nodded in agreement as Matsu and Kakashi both tasted the meal.

"Wow, this is good." Matsu praised as Kakashi hummed in agreement before pulling his mask back up as his plate was suddenly empty. Naruto stared in wonder as he hadn't even noticed the man pull it down in the first place and he was already finished.

"Thank you!" Musubi cheered before a question came to mind. "Oh, Matsu! Can Musubi ask a question?" The red head nodded so she continued. "What kind of Sekirei is Matsu? Are you a simple-type or a fist-type or something else?" She asked as Naruto perked up, having wondered about it herself even as Ku played slightly with her food as she ate.

"Matsu's a brain-type." She answered as both Musubi and Naruto looked confused. "A brain-type like Matsu is physically the weakest of all Sekirei. We aren't much better than regular civilians honestly." She admitted before pushing her glasses up. "But in return we're the smartest Sekirei of all. We also have another power meant to take advantage of that and as both a single digit and the first brain-type, Matsu's is stronger than the rest. Matsu can link into any electrical device and hack it to do what Matsu wants. Matsu can also use it to link to other devices so long as they're capable."

"Meaning what?" Naruto asked so Matsu simplified it.

"Matsu can use her brain to go into electrical stuff and control them or learn everything inside them." So Naruto slowly nodded.

"Do you have a cell phone from M.B.I. Naruto?" Kakashi asked so the blond boy reached into his pouch and pulled the item out. Matsu looked at it as her eyes glowed for a second before it turned on.

"_Hi Naruto!"_It chirped in Matsu's voice as the boy jumped and almost dropped it. _"Matsu can do stuff like this. Right now because the phone has speakers she can talk to you through the device as long as you're close enough to Matsu." _She chirped through the phone before her eyes stopped glowing and the device turned off. "Do you know how to use that phone Naruto?"

"Uh… I just hold onto it and then that professor guy calls me when I need to know stuff right?" The girl huffed and shook her head.

"Matsu will teach you about it after dinner." She told him as he shrugged and put it away before going back to his food. He wasn't very tech-savvy to begin with and phones were new to the Elemental Nations. How was he supposed to know about it?

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Infiltration successful hm." Deidara chuckled as he hopped off his bird on top of a building. Sneaking into the village had been far too easy for him. Since Sasori's spy took care of all the guards from the canyon entrance at the back end of Sunagakure, Deidara had been free to fly in and then use small clay spiders to kill off the occasional guard as he flew across the sky. "Now to get the Kazekage's attention that will somehow get to draw him out of his office." He muttered before jumping back as he saw a spike of sand rush at him.

However the second he landed he had to roll to the side to avoid a powerful slash that cut straight through the stone the building was made of. Standing up straight he came face to face with a blade tip being held less than an inch from his nose. His eyes followed the blade to see it was attached to a long red pole being held by a brunette wearing a white kimono top and red hakama pants as she glared at him. A couple feet behind her was a red head with the kanji for love tattooed on his forehead while he wore a red outfit with a silver vest and had a large gourd on his back. "Well now… This is awkward hm. How'd you notice me so fast hm?" He asked as Gaara scoffed.

"That bird does not exist in my desert." He replied as Kaho narrowed her eyes at the blond while holding her weapon to his face.

"A black cloak with red clouds you're with that Akatsuki group after Gaara aren't you?" She questioned as the man chuckled lightly.

"It looks to me like you know that answer already hm." She growled as Gaara grunted and gathered sand around the blonds' feet silently.

"You're right. So let me send a message to Akatsuki." He mused before raising an open hand towards him. "I will not bow down to their whims." He closed his hand suddenly as Deidara was suddenly impaled on all sides by spears of sand from around him and Kaho jumped back next to her Ashikabi. However rather than bleeding Deidara's corpse turned white revealing it to be a clone of some kind before exploding violently. Gaara stood strong as he used his sand to protect himself and Kaho and looked around.

"Above us!" Kaho cried before Gaara's sand shield automatically rose to stop the dive bombing birds that exploded on contact. Kaho let out a slight shriek in shock before Gaara emerged unharmed and placed an arm on her shoulder. "Are you alright Gaara?"

"I believe I should be asking you that question." He replied before looking up to see Deidara standing on a clay bird and smirking down at them. "You will have a difficult time getting close to him again Kaho." She narrowed her eyes on the blond ninja as she spun her naginata in her hands.

"I'm not leaving you Gaara." The red head's lips twitched upwards for a second in amusement before falling back to his stoic look as he nodded. Sand gathered at their feet and lifted the pair into the air as Kaho looked down in surprise before smiling to her Ashikabi and then turning her focus back on Deidara.

"So how did you like that small preview of my art hm?!" Deidara called out as Gaara grunted and Kaho scowled. "Ya know, I plan on putting on quite the show here hm! When I'm done, everyone here will know that the Kazekage couldn't stand up to the true art of the world!"

"That wasn't art!" Kaho shouted as Gaara merely nodded his agreement silently and Deidara scoffed.

"Oh not you too look here cutie. True art…" He mused as he pulled his right hand out of his pouch and threw it out towards them as more clay birds flew out. "…is an explosion!" He shouted while Gaara waved a hand and shot sand bullets at the birds that made them detonate in mid-air. The bird Deidara was on took off over the village as Gaara made his sand platform race after him. Along the way the red head pushed his chakra into the sand of the village below and raised it up, waving his hands as if conducting a symphony only he could hear the teen began to direct the sand to lash out at Deidara as they flew over the village. Down below the large sand attacks drew the attention of everyone below, Shinobi and civilian alike as they turned their eyes skyward to follow their Kage as he fought the intruder.

"Kaho, do you trust me?" Gaara asked as he kept trying to corral Deidara but was failing since his clay bird was more agile than his sand. The Sekirei glanced back at him before nodding without a word so he broke her portion of the sand platform off from his and launched her up into the air with it. Kaho was surprised for a moment before understanding his plan and spinning her weapon as she focused on Deidara. Watching how he dodged from the sand for a moment the girl made her plan for attack before giving a small glance at Gaara. Knowing this was a fight for his life emboldened Kaho's decision as she gripped her naginata tightly in her hands.

"Ya can't catch me with those slow moves hm!" Deidara taunted as he tossed out a couple small birds that were intercepted again mid flight. "Tch, that sand is so annoying. It keeps smothering my art hm." He muttered under his breath before narrowing his eyes. "Wait a sec… where's the girl?" He asked himself before hearing a loud yell from above.

Looking up he swore and pulled his bird to the side to try and dodge Kaho's falling slash. However he wasn't fast enough to avoid it entirely as his bird's left wing was chopped off and he began to fall. Cursing he quickly made a new bird and called it out to catch him as he glared at the girl. "Cut my art will ya? Ha!" He cried as he detonated the bird pieces near her. However the sand had rushed and surrounded her in a protective dome the opened after the explosions to reveal Kaho glaring up at him. Growling Deidara looked back to see Gaara with a fierce glare on him as one hand was stretched out as if to cradle Kaho in his palm while his other was aimed at him.

**"Sand Coffin**."The teen called out as Deidara's eyes widened when sand cut off his flight path and began to surround him from all sides. Kaho's platform was pulled out of the way as more sand rushed in to capture the fleeing Akatsuki ninja. Noticing his paths being cut off Deidara whipped his hands out as he rushed to make more clay sculptures to fight with.

"Not a chance in hell!" He shouted as multiple birds flew from small mouths in his palms to the sand ahead of him and exploded, making a hold in Gaara's attempted orb that he flew out of. However he had been anticipated as Kaho was waiting there leaping off her clump of floating sand with a slash meant to take his head off. The blond ducked under the attack while sand formed a wall behind him that Kaho used to catch herself and leap back at Deidara with a grin. "Damn it hm!" The man cursed as he jumped off his bird as it was cut in half.

Sand rushed in and caught Kaho before moving her away in a dome to protect her from the explosion Deidara's bird caused while he made a new one to fly away with. Coming to a stop above the village Deidara glared down at the pair. "You're sand let's you fight from a distance hm, while the girl uses it as a way to get close and attack me. Two on one is so unfair hm."

"Then just leave and don't bother Gaara!" Kaho shouted as the teenage Kage kept himself ready to either launch his sand or Kaho to attack while at the same time being prepared to defend both of them should the ex-stone ninja attack them. "I won't let you hurt my Ashikabi!"

"So you're not just some hidden sand chick, you're one of them Sekirei hm." The blond mused having thought the girl was simply a specialized ninja that guarded the teen.

"Sekirei 87, Kaho." She introduced as she twirled her weapon and got ready to jump at him should he get within range for her to do so. Deidara chuckled before looking down below.

"I wonder how many in the village were happy with their Kage getting nabbed by some outsider chick. And one with so much extra baggage at that." He mused as Gaara frowned. To be honest most of Hidden sand's female population was extremely unhappy that he winged Kaho simply because it meant he was 'off the market' so to speak. However Gaara ignored them and instead focused on the people who really mattered. Kaho had been well received by his siblings but his old Sensei Baki along with most of Suna's council was unhappy with the decision themselves.

Just as Deidara alluded to, as a Sekirei Kaho came with 'baggage' in the Sekirei Plan that he now found himself a part of. As an Ashikabi it was now his duty to assist Kaho in defeating other Sekirei until they were the only pair left. However as a Kage he could rarely leave the village and certainly not just to look for other specific people and attack them.

However he wasn't the only Ashikabi in the Hidden Sand Village, his brother Kankuro was the Ashikabi of Sekirei 101 Oriha. Kankuro came back from a mission one day and explained to Gaara how he winged Oriha of course Gaara didn't mind that his brother was an Ashikabi but didn't like the fact that he had to fight against him. But both Kankuro and he had agreed that they won't fight against each other until they're the last standing.

As a Kage he had to maintain a certain image and Sekirei Plan or not going around attacking random people was not approved of. So he, Kaho, Kankuro and Oriha were essentially forced to sit in Suna and wait until a Sekirei came and attacked them first or unless Kankuro goes on a mission with Oriha and they encounter a Sekirei who wish to fight them. While the brunette hadn't been exactly happy with that, she would deal with it without complaint since it meant she got more time to spend with her Ashikabi. The Suna council was okay though with Gaara naming Kaho as his bodyguard and constant companion as she had shown off her skills when she first arrived and they knew she was very strong.

"What are you getting at?" Gaara asked as Deidara glanced back down at the village before locking eyes with Gaara.

"Oh, just that it might be easier for you two if the village were to, ya know…" He started as he tossed a piece of clay into the air. "…Vanish." Deidara made a half-ram sign with is right hand as the small clay he threw high suddenly expanded into a giant clay bird with a rounded bottom. "This'll wipe Suna right off the map for ya hm!" He shouted as the bomb began to fall. "No need to thank me!" The blond taunted as Gaara's eyes went wide. He quickly pulled Kaho to him as he began to gather every grain of sand his chakra could reach to form a protective dome over the village. Sweat dotted his brow as he continued to add more and more sand and chakra to his shield as the explosive bird crashed into his construct and exploded. The Kage grunted in exertion as he focused on keeping his shield up despite the force the explosion was releasing. "You Kage types are so predictable un!"

"Gaara!" Kaho shouted as smaller clay birds flew from Deidara's hands at the pair. Gaara grunted as he rose up his shield around them, Kaho hugging herself as close to Gaara as she could so that he wouldn't have to cover as much space. The birds collided with his personal shield with a bang as they began to explode and Deidara flew around them, sending in birds from every direction to force Gaara to keep his shield up even as he held up the sand from his larger shield to prevent it from crushing all the villagers below. "Gaara!"

"I'm fine Kaho!" He grunted as he focused his chakra to form an eye of sand above his orb that allowed him to see outside of it. With a bit of focus and a large burst of chakra he tossed the sand over the village walls so that it wouldn't flatten his home or its people. Deidara laughed as the sand fell back into the desert surrounding Suna.

"Why didn't you just drop it un? Couldn't bring yourself to let it crush this pathetic village?" He taunted as he clapped his hands together and tossed out more birds while discreetly tossing small bundles of clay straight up. Noticing the sand eye he made sure to direct one of his birds to it and destroy it so the teenage Kage was blind within his protective sphere. The birds rammed against the sand and detonated as Gaara began to breathe heavily within the orb.

"Gaara…"

"I'm almost out of chakra Kaho. We need to finish this quickly." The boy admitted before they heard something land on the orb before another explosion struck them from the side making them forget about it in favor of the bigger threat. "Listen, I'm going to send a portion of my sand out with you. I want you to draw him close to me. I will finish him from there."

"I'll try Gaara." She told him as he smiled slightly before his eyes widened as he saw small white spiders burrowing their way through his sand. "Gaara?" Kaho questioned at his sudden terror before a hold opened and he shoved her away. "Gaara!" She screamed as she fell through the sky and his sand orb exploded. The Sekirei stared in horror for a second before looking down to see she was coming up on a few buildings. Kaho stabbed her naginata into the side of a wall and held on tightly as she slowly came to a stop. Once she did she flipped herself up so that she was balancing on the shaft of her weapon as the blade was still impaled in the wall. "Gaara!" She shouted as she drew her attention back up to see the smoke clear and the unconscious red head fall through the sky only to be caught in the claws of Deidara's clay bird.

"The One tail captures successful hm." The blond grunted out before flying away. Kaho looked down to see how far she had left to drop and grunted as she pulled her naginata out of the wall and fell the last twenty feet, rolling upon her landing to disperse the impact. The girl quickly got to her feet and started running as fast as she could after the Suna Kage and his Akatsuki captor, not willing to let her Ashikabi be taken off to die.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"I got the Jinchuriki hm!" Deidara called out as his bird gently set the boy down before landing next to him while Sasori looked up to him in annoyance.

"You took too long." The blond huffed as he motioned to the boy.

"Well sorry my target was a freakin' Kage. Plus his Sekirei chick helped him out." The ex-stoneNin grunted as Sasori looked Gaara over and determined that he would live but be unconscious for quite a while. "Taking him alive was pretty hard since I had to use the good stuff to go through that damn defense of his hm. Hell, his Sekirei was a weapons user but she fought so well with him she could keep getting close to me even when I was in the air un." Deidara grunted out as Sasori simply grunted in understanding. It made sense, though he still wouldn't let him get off scot-free for taking so long when he said he could handle it not even a day earlier.

"Just hurry up so we can seal the One tail away already. You know I hate to be kept waiting." The former Suna legend growled before a shout got their attention.

"Hand over Gaara now!" The two turned to see a teen wearing a black outfit with purple face paint standing a few feet away as he gripped a scroll on his back with one hand, one out of three in total. Next to him is a girl with short dark purple hair with a red bow on her bangs and brown eyes wearing a long, open-front black dress with a white dress underneath it that had short, puffed shoulders and long white gloves, on her waist she had several bladed disks.

Deidara scoffed at the single no name Shinobi and some girl that followed him while Sasori grunted.

"Get going Deidara. I'll catch up."

"If you say so hm." The blond muttered as his bird opened its mouth and swallowed the unconscious Kage before taking off.

"Hey!" Kankuro shouted before being cut off as a metal blade tail slammed the ground in front of him making him focus on the fleeing blonds' hunched over partner.

"I hate to be kept waiting just like I hate to keep others waiting in return. So I'll make sure to finish this quickly." Sasori grunted as Kankuro growled but then quickly pulled out all three of his scrolls and whipped them open before there was a large puff of smoke as she was suddenly surrounded by three wooden puppets that were moving via the chakra strings he attached to them.

"Oriha get ready!"

"Right!" Oriha then smiled and prepared her weapons. They were six different bladed disks two of which she held, the others she manipulated, a perfect match for Kankuro.

"A puppeteer huh and that girl wouldn't have to be a Sekirei would she?"

Kankuro growled at the question. "And what if she is?"

"Well then this should be interesting, especially since I'm fighting against a Sekirei along with those three puppets." He commented before his tail whipped out to attack.

Both Kankuro and Oriha were able to jump out of the way just in time

Kankuro took a couple steps back and gave suggestions to Oriha. "Keep your distance;we still don't know how dangers that metal tail of his is."

"Got it," Oriha said with a caution look on her face as her floating disc began to spin violently.

"Here we go!" Kankuro then raised his hands and flexed his fingers, lunging Crow and Black Ant forward and started spinning around their enemy."How about we go faster!" Crow and Black Ant started to spin faster at incredible speed. "Oriha your turn!"

Oriha smiled at her Ashikabi. "Right Kankuro!"Oriha threw the disc in her hand at the Akatsuki ninja, grabbed two more and then threw them. Kankuro aided in the attack by throwing multiple shuriken from Crow's mouth.

When the weapons were near Sasori he was able to deflect them with his metal tail. "Don't tell me that was it."

Kankuro along with Oriha smirked. "Not bad but we're just getting started!" Kankuro flexed his fingerscausing Black Ant to appear below Sasori causing Sasori to fly up into the air.

"Looks like you forgot about Black Ant you big dummy!" Oriha shouted.

Sasori fell down into the torso of Black Ant and was trapped inside. "Take this!" Kankuro moved his arm causing Crow to separate into eight components. "**Secret Black Move: Iron Maiden!" **The torso is left behind while the arms, legs, and head are positioned around Black Ant, each with a sharp blade. Kankuro guides the separate pieces into slits in Black Ant torso, impaling The Akatsuki ninja.

Kankuro smiled at his accomplishment. "The show is over."

"Alright way to go Kankuro!" Oriha shouted out with glee.

Kankuro smirked as he saw his enemy defeated but his expression along with Oriha soon changed when they saw sand pouring out of Black Ant's torso.

"What the-?" Kankuro opened Black Ant's torso which revealed his enemy to be nothing more than a sand clone.

"What a sand clone?!" Sand soon erupted behind them causing them to turn around seeing their enemy behind them completely unharmed.

"Well that was quite disappointing I was hoping for something more."

Kankuro gritted his teeth seeing his opponent unharmed. He quickly turned to Oriha. "Hey Oriha we should use your Norito!"

Oriha had a smile as well as a blush on her face. "Okay!"

"_Norito? This should be interesting." _ Sasori thought to himself but saw Kankuro kissed Oriha left him a little bit surprised. _"Just what are they up to?"_

As Kankuro kissed Oriha her back soon sprouted purple like wings and when the kiss was finished her entire body started to glow and her metal disks started to revolve around her. "These flying gears represent my pledge. Cut away the enemies before my Ashikabi!"

"**Moon Slicer!"**Oriha then launched a power slash attack towards Sasori.

Sasori was surprised by the attack that was coming towards him. He then tried to block the attack with his metal tail but it was futile as his tail shattered, he manage to move slightly away from the attack but he received some heavily damages to his body as some of it started breaking off.

Kankuro smirked at Oriha accomplishment. _"There's no way that he was able to survive that attack."_

"My, my I never thought that Hiruko would be destroyed." A voice said.

Kankuro and Oriha were surprised when they saw a figure emerged from the body's remains. The cloaked figure stood up and removed the cloak the covered him, revealing a young man with short, red hair and the Akatsuki robe. "I must admit it is quite rare for Hiruko to be damaged, but I'm the type of person who hates to keep people waiting." Sasori then took out a scroll and opened it reveaaling the kanji symbol for "_Third"_

Kankuro was just scared by the figure. "Y-Your face I-I know who you are, you're Sasori of the Red Sand!"

"To have my name be known by one so young… It's certainly flattering. This must be such an honor for you. For an aspiring puppeteer to face the greatest in history…" In a puff of smoke a new puppet figure appeared and charged towards them.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Kaho rushed out of the village walls following after Gaara as she could tell what direction he was in from their bond before stopping as the sands were covered in various puppet pieces and broken pieces of metal Kankuro was lying on the ground next to Oriha . "Kankuro! Oriha!" She shouted, recognizing her Ashikabi's brother and his Sekirei. The boy opened his eyes to see who it was grunted as she lifted him up to a sitting position. "Kankuro, who did this to you? And where did they go with Gaara?" She asked rapid fire as the boy struggled to point off in the distance.

"It was… was Sasori...of the Red Sand. Please help Oriha." He whispered before falling back unconscious. Kaho looked off to the direction he had pointed as she could tell he was right from her bond saying the same thing before looking back at the boy and his Sekirei. To a Sekirei their Ashikabi was always top priority but at the same time she knew that she couldn't take the Akatsuki alone. Tears welled in her eyes as she looked off to Gaara's direction before letting out a sob.

"I'm sorry Gaara." She muttered before lifting Kankuro and Oriha over her shoulder and rushing back in to Suna so that he could get medical attention. It was breaking her heart to not go after her Ashikabi but she knew it was the right choice to make at the time. She could only hope that she could gather enough help from the Suna Shinobi to help her go after the red headed Kage. Before it was too late.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

Deidara was waiting for his partner to show up when he spotted a figure walking closer to him. Deidara then used his eye scope to get a closer look at the figure and once he got a good look at the figure he couldn't help but crack a smile.

Sasori soon saw his partner with a smile on his face. "Is there something that amuse to you?"

"Well I just never expected that you would have to use that body of yours in battle hm. So what happened?" Deidara asked as they started walking back to their hideout.

"It appears that there's an ability that the Sekirei possesses that we weren't informed about." Sasori said.

"And what would that be hm?" Deidara asked.

"I'll tell you about it later, we can't make leader wait."

Deidara just shrugged. "Alright then Sasori my man."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Good work." A spiky haired silhouette spoke in monotone as Gaara was laid on the ground by Deidara's bird. Dispelling his creation with a thought the clay creation shrank back down as he picked it up for future usage. No need to waste good clay after all.

"There wasn't any doubt that I could get him hm." Deidara boasted as Sasori grunted as he entered from finishing the seals outside to keep them safely locked in and without intruders.

"The barrier is set. Let's get this over with." He grunted as their leader's ringed eyes looked at the Suna legend before letting his impatience slide and making a few hand-seals. He was right after all, so it wouldn't do for a god to get angry.

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

The sun had risen as Naruto fidgeted in place as he stood next to Musubi, Sakura and Kakashi. Kusano was off to the side sitting by Matsu as Tsunade was assigning them a mission. The little girl was sending her meanest glare at the 'mean old lady' since she still wouldn't let her go with her Big brother on the 'super cool' missions like Musubi could. Matsu was holding the girl with a slightly amused smile on her face as Tsunade ignored the child's glare. Kusano was far too young and too cute for her glare to be anything more than adorable. "Alright you four, I want you to do a simple guarding job for a merchant as he heads to a town on our border with Ame no Kuni." The female Kage started before Naruto groaned.

"Aw come on Baa. Give me something with action here." He whined while Sakura face palmed at his immaturity and Kakashi chuckled lightly. Tsunade growled and was about to respond when the door was slammed open and a man rushed in.

"Hokage!And urgent message from Suna!" He declared as he handed the busty blond a scroll. Tsunade narrowed her eyes as she opened the parchment roll and read over what it said before whipping her head to Kakashi and his team.

"Change of missions team. You're now ordered to Sunagakure ASAP to help them retrieve the Kazekage from Akatsuki!" She ordered as Kakashi nodded.

"Main gate in ten minutes!" He ordered as Sakura and Naruto nodded. Musubi just looked at the man with a grin and followed Naruto out the door as they all rushed out and Matsu looked out Tsunade.

"Why would Akatsuki want the Kazekage Tsunade?" She asked. "Matsu thought they were after Jinchuriki and the unwinged?" She asked as the woman sighed before glancing at Kusano and then back to Matsu.

"Because Matsu, the Kazekage happens to be Jinchuriki to the Ichibi." She told her as Matsu's eyes widened and she nodded her understanding. That would make him a target to the criminal group, Kage ranking or not. They all weren't S-ranked Shinobi for nothing after all.

"Then… then is it a good idea to send Naruto-tan to face them?" She asked as Kusano perked up, wondering why the were mentioning her Big brother with these 'jin-thingies' and 'Aka-bad guys'. Tsunade thought it over intently before answering.

"Not entirely I suppose. But they are the only team currently available right now so I don't have a choice. Plus Naruto has already faced two members and managed to come out alive. And he'll eventually be forced to face them again. So since hiding him will only delay the inevitable I'm not even going to try. With Kakashi there he should be fine."

"Kakashi-tan is strong yes, but Matsu's Ashikabi is only A-rank Tsunade. Akatsuki are all S, the highest and best in the world." Matsu pointed out as Tsunade sighed and leaned back into her chair.

"I know, and I don't plan on them doing this alone either. The second another team becomes available I'll send them as back up, don't worry. Besides, with you and Ku here we'll know almost instantly if something goes wrong thanks to your bonds right?" Matsu nodded as she could tell Kakashi was currently worried and focused from their bond. Looking down to Kusano and ruffling her hair to get the girls attention Matsu asked her a question.

"Hey Ku, what's Naruto-tan feeling right now?" She asked as Kusano scrunched her face up cutely and focused on the bond she felt from her Ashikabi.

"Big brother's confused and angry." She chirped as Matsu raised a brow and looked up to Tsunade.

"Confused? Why would Naruto-tan be confused?" Tsunade thought for a moment before grunting as the answer came to her.

"He doesn't know the Kazekage is a Jinchuriki so he's probably wondering why Akatsuki targeted him."

**XxXxXxXxXxXxXxXxX**

"Alright team, let's go!" Kakashi ordered as they were all at the gate. Naruto only paused for a second to let Musubi climb on his back before taking to the trees after his old teammate and Sensei . The brunette hadn't learned how to do the tree hopping that the Shinobi were taught and as such she wouldn't have kept up with them otherwise. The jonin and chunin glanced at the genin and his Sekirei for a second before realizing why he was carrying the girl.

"Kakashi-Sensei, I'm kind of lost here." Naruto started as they rushed through the trees. "Why would Akatsuki target the Kazekage? It doesn't make any sense." He asked as Kakashi glanced back at him for a second.

"You didn't keep yourself updated with the world while you were training with Jiraiya did you?"

"Well I heard Suna got a new Kazekage about half a year after we left but I didn't hear who it was." The blond admitted so Kakashi sighed.

"The Kazekage is Gaara." The blonds' eyes went wide as it fell into place for him. Instantly Naruto growled and started to go faster, overtaking his Sensei and crush. "Naruto slow down!"

"No! Do you know what Akatsuki is planning for Gaara?" He shouted as he kept running as fast as he could. "They're gonna kill him! We don't have any time to waste!"

"I know Naruto but Suna is three days away. We're not going to get there fast enough no matter how fast you run! Besides you need to conserve your energy so that you can fight them when we arrive." He admonished so Naruto growled but slowed down slightly. Musubi was staring at her Ashikabi in worry as she was afraid he was going to start acting scary like he did against Hidan while Sakura was wondering why Naruto would react like that.

"Naruto, how do you know what Akatsuki is planning?" The blond looked back to her for a second as they leapt from branch to branch.

"Oh yeah, you don't know about me or Gaara do you?" He muttered as Musubi perked up since she would be learning something new about her Ashikabi. "We're both Jinchuriki , human beings with demons sealed inside them." Naruto admitted as Sakura's eyes went wide while Musubi tilted her head in confusion. Kakashi just sighed slightly since he disagreed with how Naruto had been treated when he was younger. "Sakura, what did our lessons at the Academy teach about the Kyuubi?" The blond asked as the girl narrowed her eyes.

"That it suddenly appeared and started destroying the village until the Yondaime used a powerful Jutsu to kill it at the cost of his life." The blond shook his head as he once more heard the lie that had caused him so much pain when he was younger.

"That's a lie." He admitted. "Kyuubi is one of the biju, nine demons of chakra. As such, you can't kill it because if you do then it will just reform and come back a few years later. The only thing you can do to stop a biju is seal it. The Hokage used a powerful Jutsu at the cost of his life, that part is true. But he didn't kill Kyuubi, he sealed it into a newborn baby." He paused as Sakura seemed to get it. "He sealed it into me."

"So Naruto has a big scary demon inside him?" Musubi asked and the boy nodded.

"Yeah… remember when Ero-Sensei seemed worried about how your chakra attached to mine? And then when we rescued Ku I used that power and you got scared?" Naruto asked as Musubi frowned at the memories but nodded. "That was because of Kyuubi. Ero-Sensei was worried you might have done something to the seal or that Kyuubi could do something to you. And then when I was… scary…" He muttered hating how he had frightened his Sekirei. "That was me actually taping into Kyuubi's power and using it." The blond explained as Sakura thought over her interactions with the blond and how she had noticed others in the village treating him. The one major thing that stood out was that those who didn't know the blond personally either thought of him as an annoying prankster or hated him for something they refused to talk about. Sakura had understood the former and always wondered about the latter and had tried talking about it but could never pry the answer out of anyone or find it in any records she had access to.

"So if this Gaara person is like you, does that mean he has a scary demon in him too?" Musubi asked and the blond nodded.

"He has the One tail in him." He answered before looking ahead. "Akatsuki wants the nine biju for something that Ero-Sensei is still trying to find out. But he did find out how they'll get the biju out of the people holding them already. They'll use a powerful sealing Jutsu that will rip the demon out of us and then lock it up in something for them." The blond then growled. "But the human afterwards is dead!" Sakura gasped as Kakashi narrowed his eye. Musubi however gasped and increased her grip on Naruto.

"No! I won't let them hurt you Naruto! I won't let them!" She shouted, not using her childish attitude of talking in the third person, showing how serious she was. "I'll fight them all off! Nobody's going to hurt my Naruto!" The blond smiled gently as the girl declared her intentions. If he could have he would have hugged her but jumping from tree to tree with her on his back made that impossible. He still turned his head back to give the girl a smile.

"Don't worry Musubi, they won't get me. I've got too much to do for them to get me. After all I've gotta help you win the Sekirei Plan and become Hokage right?" He offered as the girl smiled and nodded. Sakura gave a slight smile at the interaction as Kakashi shook his head in slight amusement.

"As touching as this is, considering what they plan on doing to Gaara I think we should hurry like you wanted Naruto." The man cut in. "It may still take three days to reach Suna but we should cut that time down by as much as we can." His two students nodded as they began to pick up the pace. They had a mission to accomplish.

**Alright, the editing to ****_ShadowStar91's _****chapters is completed. The next chapter and the beginning for the ****Rescue Gaara Arc**** saga and beyond will be my original work. Well I hope I'll be able to create great chapters for this story.**


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